Fly With Me
by The Mad Milliner
Summary: Emiko Taylor's atypical life is interrupted by a terrible plane crash, during a move to Japan with her mother. Contrary to her prior beliefs of the afterlife, Emiko awakens in a place commonly called the Soul Society. She begins training to enter the Seireitei and gain the ability to find her long lost brother and mother. Slight AU. Time period in Turning Back The Pendulum arc.
1. Chapter 1

_(Author's note: Speech written in italics is actually spoken or written in another language by the indicated character. It has been translated and noted this way for the reader's benefit.)_

Chapter 1

From up here, the little people and their cars start to look like the playing pieces from The Game of Life. I stare at the minimal view through the airplane window until there's nothing to see except clouds, then turn back to the even more beautiful view of the seat in front of me. Eleven hours left to go.

We're heading to Japan this time. Mom has always loved the East. Now that she's up to traveling again, she really wants to go over there. Personally, I don't think it's much more fantastic than any other place we've been.

"We have now reached our cruising height of one thousand and eight hundred feet. Passengers may now feel free to unbuckle their seatbelts and move about the cabin." The captain says over the intercom, and then the speech is repeated in Japanese. I put the tray down in front of me and grab my laptop from the empty neighboring seat, setting it on the also minimal surface. I flip the top of my machine up and power it up, watching the screen while it boots.

My mom named me Emiko, even though we're completely American, because she was obsessed with the Ancient Eastern names-as-blessings thing, and thought it would make me seem "exotic." We visited Japan before, about eleven years ago, when I was seven. Mom wanted me to "experience" the culture from which I was named. I picked up a handful of phrases then (Hoishi des ne!), and only remember a few of those now.

I double-click the Rosetta Stone icon on my desktop. Mom was excited to buy it for me last year. She thought we could have conversations in Japanese and whatever. It's a good program. It ought to be, what with posting a cost of multiple hundreds and all.

I click into the reviews. I've already got it all down, but it never hurts to review. Sometimes you forget the little things.

That's what my brother used to say. He was great at languages and school and memorization and everything. He always did his best, and everyone admired him for it. Especially me. He could do absolutely anything. I used to think he could fly, when I was really little. He was like Superman to me. The last time we went trick-or-treating, he dressed up with a towel around his shoulders just to poke fun at me, and I laughed, even though it was really stupid. We had a good time, and I forgot for a while that I was sixteen, and too old for kid stuff like that.

On that trip, there was this awesome-looking house across the street, so Ryan led the way, his towel spread heroically out between his hands behind him. He stopped in the middle when I hesitated and he called for me in his "super" voice. I smiled at him and started to step into the street when a huge yellow Hummer barreled over the hill. I screamed and he turned to look too late. The driver didn't notice him in the dark because Ryan didn't believe in those reflective wristbands and… And superman met his kryptonite.

Somehow, Mom was more shocked than me. She secluded herself further and cried harder, even though I was the one who saw it happen. At the funeral she cried onto more shoulders and blew her nose into more handkerchiefs. Eventually, I quit crying. I just sat back and let Mom do all of it.

We usually move every three or four years, but we ended up staying there for five, until Mom was ready to go again. And of course she chose to go to her favorite place in the world.

I blink and focus my eyes on the black computer screen. I swish my finger across the mouse pad and it lights back up. The program hesitates when I click, the lurches back into function. I glance over the symbols and activities, but don't feel quite so motivated to review anymore. I tap my fingers on the space beneath the keyboard.

The captain's voice crackles onto the intercom, interrupting my thoughts. "Passengers, we are about to hit some turbulence. If you would please return your belongings to their overhead compartments, turn your trays and seats into their upright positions, and buckle your seatbelts, we'll get through this without a hitch." And then it repeats. I shut my laptop and put it up into the compartment, then flip my tray up and buckle my seatbelt just as the plane starts to bump. A child cries out, frightened, but is shushed quickly. I used to be afraid, too, when this would happen. I thought we'd crash and die, and for a few years I swore I'd never fly again. But here I am, as calm and safe as ever. I sit quietly and wait for the bucking to stop. It usually doesn't last long.

A few minutes later, when the plane continues to jerk us all about even more violently, the captain switches back onto the intercom. "Alright, passengers. It appears that we will be making an emergency landing. If you'll all remain calm, the air masks will deploy as we descend. Please follow the instructions given to you by the flight attendants at the beginning of the flight." It quickly repeats in Japanese, then the speakers click off.

Oh, crap. I breathe softly, but I quickly lose control of my lungs. My ears crackle quickly and my head feels like it's swelling. I chance a look out the window. A mountain looms closer and closer. We're going to hit it. The oxygen mask falls down and hits my face. I hurriedly put it over my mouth. No. No, we can't hit it. There must be something else near it that they're aiming for.

The intercom clicks back on, but the only thing that comes through is the captain shouting orders and readings back and forth with his co-pilot. I look back out the window and the mountain is enormous and just a few seconds later I hear the metal smashing and screeching as it tears apart and everybody starts screaming at the same time... And one huge piece of metal comes hurtling toward me and I scream at it as if that'll make it go away but it doesn't and it keeps coming and I keep screaming until it hits me and I choke on the incredible pain and I gurgle like a baby and I can't stand the _pain_ and then black overwhelms it all anyway.

* * *

I stare at the back and shoulders of the tall man in front of me and blink. What…? I look down at myself. All of the clothes I'd had on, tee shirt and jeans… My hand flies to my head, prodding, checking. Whole. No blood. No bones. At least, none where they oughtn't be. Someone nudges me from behind and I step forward into the space the tall guy left. I peek around his mass. A long line of people stretches on. Some of them look like they were on the plane. I follow the line forward obediently.

After a little bit, I arrive at a figure in a hooded cloak. It hands me a long slip of paper with a number on it. 99,823,496,157. Wow. I continue along the line. I don't see anybody from my family, but the line fades into mist after about fifteen people, so they could be farther forward or back.

After a few more minutes, four tall, ornate doors dissolve out of the mist. Each has a plaque above it with a compass direction, North, South, East, or West, carved on it in every written language. Eventually, I reach the front of the line and another cloaked figure takes the slip of paper from my hand, glances at it, and points me toward the furthest door, North. I pause and it points sharply, leaning a bit toward me. I take a few steps forward, then stop when it turns to the next person in line.

Only a few people are in front of me, and they're headed straight toward their respective doors. Don't they wonder what's going on? The person behind me bumps my shoulder as he passes. I stumble forward and take one last look back at the line before tripping through my door.

_(Author's Note: Let me know what you think in a review! I love your feedback!)_


	2. Chapter 2

_(Author's note: Speech written in italics is actually spoken or written in another language by the indicated character. It has been translated and noted this way for the reader's benefit.)_

Chapter 2

_"Hello?"_ Asks a guy's voice, tinted with a French accent. I roll my face toward the sun and the sound.

"What…?" I ask dazedly.

"Oh, you speak English. You looked like you might speak French, there, for a moment." The guy says, suddenly with a purely American accent. "Here, I'll help you up." A hand touches my back as I sit up, and I blink my eyes against the light.

"Thanks…" I respond vaguely and rub a hand over my face, looking up to see the one addressing me.

"My name's Mar. Short for Marshall, but I don't like that one, so everybody calls me Mar." The ruddy-looking boy smiles. He's probably a couple of years younger than me. "I guess you're a new arrival. You got lucky – this is eleventh sector. Not a whole lot of crime. Just a stolen banana here and there, y'know."

I squint my eyes at him. "I'm… sorry? I don't think I… understand…"

"Ah!" He exclaims and sits down next to me on the bench I woke up on. "Right, right. You see, you're in the Rukongai." He begins this explanation with a broad sweep of his hands, which continue moving to illustate his speech. "It's the outer ring of this big place called the Soul Society. All of the new souls from the dead come to the Rukongai, North, South, East, or West. Each direction is separated into eighty-four sectors, which are in order of their safety, one through eighty-four. That's why eleven is safe. The inner ring is the Seireitei, but only the Soul Reapers and the nobles live there. The Soul Reapers are sort of like a soul military. I'm gonna be one." He smiles proudly.

"Okay..." I say as my mind tries to follow the illustration produced by Mar's fingers.

"So you got it? Good. Tell you what, you can come and stay with my family at the bath house. The Lady shouldn't mind another pair of hands around." He stands up quickly, disregarding my disoriented fatigue.

"Oh, I don't want to intrude on your…" I start, cutting off as the boy pulls me to my feet. I wobble, head pulsing for a moment.

"No, no! Families here aren't real families. Almost nobody knows where their real families are. Families in the Rukongai are just groups of people that work and live together. There are a TON of people at the bath house. One more won't be a big deal." He wraps his hand around my wrist and pulls me through the people and streets, apparently making the executive decision. Several bumps and turns later, we stand in front of a formidably tall building.

"Home, sweet home!" Mar says, full of pride again, and guides me inside. He weaves through the bustling hallways within and takes me all the way to an elevator at the back of the building. He steps in and I follow him. He presses the last button on a long pane and the elevator lurches into movement just as the doors close. It raises at a painfully slow rate. Mar fills the time with more chatter.

"So, it's really cool to be a Soul Reaper – y'know, the guys I mentioned earlier – because you get to have an awesome sword that does all of this cool stuff depending on like who you are, and you get to fight these monster things called Hollows. Those are souls from dead people that had something to avenge so they turned into monsters that have to eat other souls to survive, so we have to stop them from eating too many of the good souls. Y'know like the yin yang thing? It's a really careful balance that the Soul Reapers get to take care of. So it's really an important job and you get to learn all of these cool like magic moves that they call Kidô. I'm learning to fight so I can go to the entrance exam for the academy, it's called the Shihô-Reijutsuin. You should try, too, because you seem like you'd make a really good Soul Reaper. Really steady and smart." I start to open my mouth in the pause, but he continues. "You know, I never even bothered to ask for your name. Sometimes I get so caught up in the moment! What is it, since you know mine?"

"Oh." I reply, surprised to be given the opportunity to speak. "My name's…" I stop and wrinkle my eyebrows. What is my name…? "I… I don't think I remember." I admit, embarrassed.

"That's not unusual." Mar informs me, all too helpful. "Here!" He lifts up the chain on my dog tags. "Lucky you've got one of these, huh?"

I snatch the necklace a little too quickly out of his hand and stare at the tags. That's right. Dad had these made for us in case anything ever happened and we'd need them. I guess this isn't exactly what he'd had in mind. I read the name on it slowly.

"Emiko." I say finally, soaking in the information. "Emiko Taylor. That's my name." I stare at the silver tags a moment more before dropping them to my chest.

"Cool! I'll call you Emi. It practically means the same thing, right? I really like nicknames." Thankfully, the elevator finally reaches the top and the doors slide open.

"That's okay." I tell Mar as I step out. "I like Emiko just fine." And I really don't like being given nicknames.

"That's cool. Emiko. Right." He follows me out. "Anyway, the Lady lives at the end of the hall here. You just gotta sign a thingy and she'll get you a room and everything." He hurries ahead of me to open the solid office door at the end. The room beyond seems a little shadowy, and I can't quite see who sits or stands inside.

"What are you here for?" A strong voice asks when I step into the office.

"This is Emiko!" Mar jumps in, blocking my ability to respond. "She just arrived. I told her she could get a room here with us, until she gets into the Soul Reaper academy." He winks at me as if we have some shared secret.

The severe and aged woman sitting behind the desk studies me carefully. "Rooms don't come free. You have to work for one." She tells me firmly.

"Ah, yes ma'am. I'll work." I reply before Mar can.

"Good." The woman puts on a far more congenial face, brightening her gaunt features only marginally. "We'll get you set up right away if you'll just…" She roots through her drawers and comes up with a printed form and pen, "… sign this form for my work roster and fill in the little blanks." She pushes them across her desk for me. I step forward and fill out the paper while the Lady shoos Mar out of the room. I thank her inside my head as I push the form back across the desk toward her.

"Perfect!" She says, after a short inspection of my writing, and pushes a button on her desk. "Analise, if you would be kind enough to come out here and escort our newcomer to the empty bed in your room?" She removes her finger and waits silently. A few seconds later, a French-looking girl comes through another wooden door on the far side of the room. She responds in a New Jersey accent.

"Hi! I'm Analise. I guess we'll be roomies." The Lady nods at her. "I guess I'll take you down there, then." She strides across the room and past me, so I turn to follow. She leads me back to the elevator, and, miraculously, it remains on our floor. Analise pauses for a moment after stepping in. "Actually, tell you what. Dinner's almost up, and it's best to get there early. I'll take you to the room afterward." She pushes the first button, and the elevator chugs downward. After an excruciatingly long time, now only filled with a strange silence, the big box reaches the bottom, and I follow Analise out.

"The supper room is pretty chaotic." She explains to me, now with a surprisingly cockney accent. I forget to listen to what she's saying for a few words after that, trying to understand why she had switched so suddenly. "So I think you'll have a tough time of it. Not much advice I can give you. Just go with the flow." She opens the huge doors at the end of a long corridor, pausing only momentarily to toss a last phrase over her shoulder.

"Welcome to the ball."

_(Author's Note: Questions or comments? Put them in a review! I appreciate it!)_


	3. Chapter 3

_(Author's note: Speech written in italics is actually spoken or written in another language by the indicated character. It has been translated and noted this way for the reader's benefit.)_

Chapter 3

As if trapped in an insane sort of synchronized dance, the people in the dining hall weaved in and out of the gaps between each other, sitting and standing as if on cue. Analise slips into the sea of bodies effortlessly, blending into the wild tango. I stare blankly, looking for an entrance, like playing one of those old jump rope games on the playground. One… Two… Three… I jump into the gap and struggle to keep in step with the people around me. Some guy with horn implants in his forehead brushes past me. Or maybe they weren't implants… I shake off that frightening thought. People rush around, clearing dirty plates and replacing them with clean ones. I latch onto an empty chair as I pass and shove gently through the crowd to claim it, nearly torn away.

Analise, incredibly, already sits beside me. "Well done." She applauds with a mouth full of food. Manners don't seem to be prevalent here.

"Um, thank you…" I confusedly reply. Around us, people eat like rabid dogs; about half the food makes it onto their mouths, the rest flying across the table. I reach forward and gingerly take a biscuit from the ever-extending line of food in front of me. Analise throws a couple of chicken wings and a slice of smoked ham onto my plate, no questions asked.

"No sense in waitin'. It'll be gone by then." She says as she continues to stuff her face. I can't imagine how she stays as thin as she is, eating like that. I break a piece off of my biscuit, when I realize that I'm not all that hungry. Weird. I haven't had anything to eat since last night… when I was still living.

The thought strikes me like a hard slap on the back. I'm dead. How do you eat when you're dead? Why would you need food if your body's gone? Analise looks at me, and an expression of realization crosses her face.

"Ah! You haven't worked yet! Sorry, that was me!" She exclaims. I wrinkle my eyebrows at her and she laughs. "When yer dead, ya don' eat. Not 'less ya work." I still have no idea what she's trying to get at, and the southern accent doesn't help much. Someone sits down beside me and I turn automatically to see.

"Analise may not be the best for explanations." Says the dark-haired teen beside me. He smiles. "My name's Aidrian. Suicide." He raises his arm at me, indicating the thick scar running down the length of his inner forearm. I open my mouth to reply, but can't come up with anything. That's how he introduces himself to people? It seems... morbid.

"What Analise means to say," he continues, unhindered by my confusion "is something like this: every soul has spirit energy, like normal energy in a human. But since you're recently dead, you haven't exerted enough of that energy to really need any nourishment to replenish it yet." That makes more sense. I'm glad to find someone at least slightly rational here.

"Oh." I respond simply. I look down at the food on my plate, then scootch it toward Analise. Aidrian chuckles and brushes his bangs away from his eyes, reaching for a bunch of grapes with his other hand. He pops one into his mouth and holds the other out to me.

"You might try a little bit of food, if you're planning to go see Raijin." I look at him confusedly. "Oh, sorry. News travels fast around here, and I heard the new girl might be going out for the Shihô-Reijutsuin. Raijin was a Soul Reaper at one time. Best of the best, around here at least." He presses the forgotten grape into my hand.

"Oh. Thank you." I pop the grape into my mouth and chew it carefully. Something about the flavor is… different than it was when I was… living. The thought hits hard again. I'm dead. And a Soul Reaper? What am I doing? How is this even happening? But, I guess anything can happen when you're dead. The Laws of Physics don't apply in this… Rukongai? Isn't that a Japanese word? Why is that, when all different people die, speaking different languages? Why do the Japanese get the final say? And am I seriously considering becoming a reaper of…

Aidrian press another grape into my palm. I look up at him and he gives me a small smile, encouraging, bringing me back from the void of my thoughts. I didn't even realize that I'd finished the first grape. I eat this one, but it doesn't affect my stomach at all.

"I'll be out there, too, you know." Aidrian says out of nowhere. "For the Shihô-Reijutsuin exams. I've been looking forward to it since I died a year ago. It may not seem like it now, but this place gets pretty boring. But in the Seireitei, with the Soul Reapers, it couldn't be boring. Sword fights and monster hunting. A little boy's dream." He says, just smiling at his peas. Finally, he looks up, making eye contact with me. "So don't just think of it like you're becoming Death. Think of it like you're becoming the hero of the dead." He takes a few brownies and drops them on his plate. "See you later." He says over his shoulder as he leaves.

The hero. A role I must admit I never thought I'd play. Maybe I _will_ give it a shot. How hard could it be? All I have to do is get in, right? I turn back to Analise, but she's gone, too. How am I supposed to get to my room now? I rise quickly and twist through the swirling, but dwindling, crowd.

"Oh!" A woman exclaims when I reach the doors. I think I might have bumped her. "Miss Emiko! Perfect, you're finished eating." It's the "Old Lady" from upstairs. "I forgot to tell you, but there's a man here who could help you prepare for the entrance exams. Now that we're off the clock, I can take you to meet him. He's a little rough, but he's the best teacher you'll find for miles around." She takes me by the arm as she's speaking and leads me through the wild maze of hallways.

"Now, it's very rare that he takes someone on, but it might be worth a shot, introducing you to him." She's bringing me to a teacher who might not even teach me? That's wonderful. We eventually reach a curtain that leads back outside in the midst of her prattling. A gruff-looking man, probably in his forties or fifties, sits on a stump with his arms crossed.

"Raijin!" the Lady, whose name I still don't know, calls. The man on the stump looks up. "This is Emiko Taylor, she's newly dead." She goes on, dropping the "Miss." _"She wants to be a __Soul Reaper."_ The Lady speaks the last sentence in Japanese, like a secret code. pushes me forward.

Raijin stands, his arms still crossed. "_Is that so?_" He responds also in Japanese, and looks me up and down. _"You ever fought?"_ He asks, addressing me now.

_"I was in martial arts. I fought at eighth dan."_ I reply, trying not to appear as intimidated as I actually am. He has a lot of bulk, and an intimidating way of speaking.

_"Hm. Eighth dan?"_ I nod, swallowing my nervous saliva. _"Not too bad. Alright. You wanna be a Soul Reaper, Emiko? I'll show you how. But it's no pansy prance."_ He turns and starts walking, apparently expecting me to follow. Wait, that was it? He just looks and decides?

_"Soul Reaper."_ Raijin mumbles as he walks away, contemplating. _"We'll see."_

_(Author's Note: If you're enjoying the story, but aren't sure if you want to follow or favorite, let me know in a review!)_


	4. Chapter 4

_(Author's note: Speech written in italics is actually spoken or written in another language by the indicated character. It has been translated and noted this way for the reader's benefit.)_

Chapter 4

_"Finished."_ Raijin shouts again, his Zanpaku-Tô at my neck. There's three days left until the exams and he's kicking my butt in seventeen seconds flat. I groan and turn my head to where my sword, Akahana, lies, two meters away.

_"Pick her up."_ Raijin grumbles, removing his foot from my gut. He sits down on a boulder at the base of a tree. "_Emiko, I don't know if you realize it, but seventeen seconds is not a long time."_ I pick up Hana again, and give him a blank look. It's not as if we haven't been over the dynamics of fighting before. _"You need to kill me in seventeen seconds if you want to make it through the exams."_

_"I'm sorry. I'm trying, but I just don't know how to do better."_ I stare at Akahana's blade, curved around in what looks like a heart. Both sides are sharp. It seems like it would be an advantage, but I think I could hardly use a normal blade.

_"You haven't even used your Shikai."_ Raijin mentions again. It's hard to control her, though, in first release. Harder than she is normally.

_"Isn't it just that you need to show promise to make it in? Why do I need to do all of this?"_

Raijin looks me sternly in the eyes. _"Because you aren't a talented fighter. You weren't made for fighting. If you walked in there without my help, you'd never make it through. You weren't born to fight, to kill. So you need the skills, because you don't have the talent. But, you were able to unleash and contact your Zanpaku-Tô."_ He glances at Hana, as if I didn't know what he was talking about. _"You reached the eighth dan in martial arts. You understand the psychology behind your enemies' fighting styles. You have the skill. It just needs to be honed to the point that it looks like talent."_ He stands, flexing his limbs. It's never less intimidating. _"Let's go again."_ He holds up his sword once again and waits for my attack.

Akahana hums excitedly in the back of my head, where she always hovers immaterially. She loves fighting much more than I do. I suppose she makes up for where I fall short, in a way. Never mind that. Time to rush him. Akahana's blade quakes in my hand, and I hook it around the hilt of Raijin's sword. I yank it toward me. "Strangle, Akahana." I command, attempting the Shikai, and her blade stretches toward Raijin's arms. He pulls away and his sword drops. I lunge forward, Akahana corkscrewing for the kill, twisting my wrist uncomfortably. While she makes her move, I kick Raijin's sword up with the toe of my boot and catch it with my free hand. I re-adjust my weight and kick with the same leg – an unexpected move. Raijin buckles at the middle and I jab toward his shoulder with his own sword, stopping before I make a wound. Akahana is now wrapped around his middle and I turn my wrist, allowing Raijin to fall forward onto the flat of her blade.

_"Finished."_ Raijin smirks. He rights himself and Akahana reluctantly withdraws. "_Shikai is often much more effective than people think."_ He says, hinting, and takes his Zanpaku-Tô from my hand. He turns his face up to the moon. _"Let's do this once more tomorrow, then it's up to you."_ He starts walking away.

_"What was my time?" _I call after him, hopeful.

_"Fifteen."_

Fifteen seconds. Raijin walks back to the bath house, but I stay to meditate on my win. Fifteen seconds. I know he'll expect me to fight harder tomorrow. He knows I can do it now, even though he didn't do his best this time.

"I wish you wouldn't hold me back." Akahana pouts from inside my head, using my knowledge of English. "He could use a couple cuts and scrapes to show him who's boss. He doesn't even have a real Zanpaku-Tô." She's right. His real Zanpaku-Tô was destroyed when he was banished from the Seireitei. He refused to kill with his sword, and they had no choice but to relieve him from duty.

"I can't wait until we get to the ranks. Then we'll get some real action." I shake my head at her. I do enjoy a fight, in good sport, but sometimes Akahana seems a little more bloodthirsty than me. Sometimes that worries me. As Raijin had explained, a Zanpaku-Tô is made from the same Reishi that make up the owner. But I didn't think my soul particles were that mean.

"Don't get too far ahead of yourself, Akahana. We've got a long way to go until we reach the Court Guard Companies. We just need to get into the academy, first." It took me a month just to get her to come out and give me her name so I could accomplish Shikai. It'll be ages before we can get to that level, in one of the thirteen companies.

"Don't kid yourself, Emiko. We're gonna be the best." Hana continues to argue. "The thirteen captains will be begging us to join. We'll go straight to third seat. Then we'll fight our way up to captain." She smiles wickedly, casting an image of herself in my mind.

"Yeah, sure. In twenty years, if we're lucky." I'd done my research on the thirteen companies. The captains are terrifyingly strong. We could never defeat one, even if we trained for a thousand years.

Akahana laughs. "I say five." She takes in a sharp breath; apparently she's had an epiphany. "We should try to get into Twelfth Company!" She giggles excitedly. I know why. Kisuke Urahara is the captain of Twelfth Company. She thinks he's gorgeous. I wouldn't say I disagree, but I don't sit around gushing about it.

I roll my eyes at her. "Let's just get through the exams, then we can giggle about who the most handsome captain is. " I stand and pick her up from the ground, turning back toward thre bath house. "Let's go get some sleep."

In reality, you're not even supposed to be able to materialize your Zanpaku-Tô before you enter the Shihô-Reijutsuin. We have to fight with regular swords for the entrance exams. We'll probably skip a couple of years, since we're so far ahead. Maybe, just maybe, we'll make it into an actual battling company. Some are destined for healing and relief, like those recruited to Fourth Company. The higher numbers are those destined for battle.

Kisuke Urahara is not only the captain of the great Twelfth Company, but also the founder of the Department of Research and Development. Rumor has it, Urahara is working on a way to create a better Soul Reaper. I don't know about that, but the fact remains that he's handsome.

I wind through the myriad within the bath house until I reach the back elevator. It actually goes faster with only one person on it. I punch the up button and listen to the elevator grinding its way downstairs. Everybody else is always asleep by now, so it's no surprise that the elevator is up top again.

"We should spar with Aidrian!" Akahana giggles. "He's cute!" I roll my eyes again.

"Put your hormones under control." Of course, she shares my taste in men, but that doesn't mean that we can just go chasing after any decent-looking guy unfortunate enough to walk past.

"Ha! I don't have any, probably. I don't think so…" She shuts up to ponder that. I must say, I'm glad. Having a "living" conscience is no fun.

The elevator rumbles to a stop and I step through the doors as they slide open. I push the third-to-last button and slump back against the elevator wall. It couldn't hurt to spar with someone other than Raijin, but I wouldn't do it just because the guy's good-looking. I'd do it for the experience. I'd be more ready for the entrance exams if I practiced different fighting styles.

"I think I do have hormones, since I'm kind of you. Whatever you feel, I can feel. So, no, I will not put my hormones under control." Akahana smirks at me, putting another image into my head, assuming that she has now won the argument. Am I actually like this? I hope not.

"Okay, fine. Then just shut up."

"Somebody's cranky!" She sings back. "I'm sure the sight of Captain Urahara at the Shihô-Reijutsuin will warm your cold heart." She laughs, then disappears before I can reply. If she could feel, I would punch her.

The elevator dings and the doors slide open when we reach our destination. I slip out and step softly through the hallways until I reach the room Analise and I share. I can hear her soft, yet obnoxious, snore already. I gently slide the old-fashioned rice paper door open and set Akahana against the wall inside.

"Don' move, ya city slicker…" Analise mumbles in a southern drawl. She has dreams in a different dialect every night, and has the habit of talking while she does it. I try to ignore how annoying it tends to be, particularly when she gets to New Jersey.

I slide one of the drawers beside my bed open and fish out my sleeping clothes. Casting glances over as Analise tumbles around, I slip out of my work clothes and fold them back into the drawer. Looking down, I pause. It's always hard to look at. A thick, jagged scar cuts across my chest, from the left side of my collar bone to the top of my right breast. It only serves as a reminder of the piece of plane that ended my life. Slowly, the weight presses down on my chest again, filling me with emotion that I don't care to feel. Grabbing my other shirt, I throw it on over my head to stop the moment. I can't deal with this now. I have to keep my mind on the exams. I put my shorts on as well, then slip into bed and roll over, filling my mind with dreams of the Seireitei, and where I can go from there.

_(Author's Note: I love feedback! Drop a review if you have the time!)_


	5. Chapter 5

_(Author's note: Speech written in italics is actually spoken or written in another language by the indicated character. It has been translated and noted this way for the reader's benefit.)_

Chapter 5

"Uppity-up-up-up!" Analise chimes. She's already tugging on her work clothes. I groan and shove myself out of bed. Waking up at five in the morning never gets easier. I shuffle out of bed, leaning toward my drawer when I notice that half of my outfit hadn't made it into the drawer, and is just laying on the ground.

"Have a good time last night?" Analise teases, as if reading my thoughts. I would normally keep everything neatly organized.

"Yeah. You know me. Always partying." She laughs and tightens her belt. I open my drawer and pull out the rest of my uniform. Analise plops down on her bed while I try to hurry up and get my clothes on.

"Oh, he is cute!" Analise chatters behind me. I turn around to find her studying a page of the History of the Soul Society book I'd picked up. Of course, she's in the section about the Court Guard Captains, on the page for Twelfth Company. He's been in that position for fifty years. Not that I was studying his page or anything.

"Oh, shut up!" I scold and take the book from her hands, snapping it closed. "He's a captain! He's to be respected for his accomplishments, not admired for his looks!" I stick it in my drawer and readjust my clothes. "Let's go to breakfast." I lead the way out of the room, not waiting for a response.

Analise walks quietly behind me until we reach the elevator. The doors are just starting to close, and Aidrian is already inside. I take a quick step in and Analise follows.

"Come now, Emiko. You can't just pretend you don't see that handsome face of his. I ain't no fool!" Sometimes I really wish I could just unplug her brain.

"Shut! Up!" I hiss at her, my eyes flicking to Aidrian. Not that I'm afraid of him thinking we're talking about him. I just don't think everybody needs to be listening to my conversations about private matters.

Analise stands quietly the rest of the slow ride down. I don't say anything to Aidrian about sparring, yet. I think it'll be best for me to wait until tonight.

The elevator reaches the bottom and our trio heads silently toward the raucous dining room for breakfast. The only thing that breaks the silence between us is my growling stomach, to my embarrassment, still drained after training last night.

* * *

For the rest of the day, my mind floats around the Shihô-Reijutsuin and the Seireitei. As I fill the tubs and scrub the floors, Akahana's thoughts of Twelfth Company and its captain torture my brain. Why does she even care about him? Why do I? He's at least, like, fifty years older than me (not that age matters when you're dead). I couldn't even get near him if I wanted to (although he's supposed to be extraordinarily friendly). I probably won't even be placed in his squad (but, since I can fight, there's a pretty good chance). And, as I've heard, he spends most of his time with Yoruichi Shihôin (well… he could… I don't know). She's the princess of the ruling family, the Tenshi Heisôban. She's also in the Shôzaku. There's nothing better than a noble chick on the secret police. I just need to forget about him. And so does Hana.

By dinner, I've finished with my mental and physical torture and am ready for bed. But, of course, that could never happen. That evening, Raijin calls me out for the last time.

_"Tomorrow morning, you go to the entrance exams. You'll be fighting with a substitute sword and your own bare skill. But tonight, you're fighting with your Zanpaku-Tô. You should fight with the same amount of practice as the other students."_ Raijin says to me. He rests his hand on the hilt of his sword. _"So come kill me."_ He states, giving it all of his usual bravado. I take his cue and launch forward, thoughts of tomorrow's opponents in my head.

* * *

_"We are pleased to announce our new students in the Shihô-Reijutsuin at this time."_ As the defender of the realm, Yoruichi Shihôin leads the ceremony. She speaks briefly, because she has to repeat herself in several other languages. The captains are all seated behind her.

"Luke Alsfehrer." Miss Shihôin begins reading off the list.

During the battle portion, they did require us to use regular blades. But, when I just managed to make it to the final round, and they let us use anything we had. The guy I fought didn't have his Zanpaku-Tô, of course, and argued that I had an unfair advantage. I was about to offer to use a regular sword, but they insisted that we move on.

"Emiko Taylor." A round of applause follows my name. I smile at the audience modestly. Yoruichi continues with the list, while some entrants walk away ashamed, realizing she had skipped their names.

After the list is finished, those of us who did make it in are led into the academy to meet with the teachers and captains and get a tour of the building. The captains enter beside us, and I stare out of the corner of my eye as Captain Urahara brushes past. Akahana squeals in my head.

_"We are very proud to welcome each of you to the Shihô-Reijutsuin. Behind me are the thirteen Court Guard Captains, whose companies will be welcoming you at the end of your training and education here."_ Miss Shihôin steps aside. _"I'm sure you'd be glad to take a moment to introduce yourselves personally."_ A murmur crosses the crowd as her message is translated.

"Exciting, huh?!" Mar claps me on the back and jumps forward, grasping the hand of Captain Unohana, of Fourth Company. The crowd pushes me forward, and a couple of handshakes later I'm standing in front of Captain Kisuke Urahara.

_"Emiko Taylor!"_ He remembered my name. Oh, god. _"I must say, I am very glad to meet you!" _He says grandly, taking my hand between the two of his.

_"I, um, you too."_ I reply nervously, my mouth feeling too numb to create words. He laughs. At me or with me?

_"I-I mean, it is an honor to meet you, Captain Urahara."_ I say, dipping into a slight bow and trying not to turn red. He laughs again.

_"Don't worry about it! You can call me Kisuke. I'm not that formal. I'm sure I'll be seeing you on my squad sometime very soon, considering your talent."_ He smiles handsomely at me as the crowd pulls me away. I shake the rest of the hands absently, while Akahana laughs. I doubt she would do much better, given the chance.

Finally, the introductions end and the captains disappear, replaced by some of the students to take us on the tour. We go through both arenas, the medicine study classrooms, the cafeterias, and a hundred other places. They explain the course programs, the class levels for each year, give commentaries on some teachers, and advice for certain exams. I hang back afterward to check out some of the posters and things in the halls, then head out of the building and down the front steps, where some people still drift about. I step through the sparse crowd and make my way across the courtyard to the entry gates, where we agreed to meet a ride back to the bath house.

"So, Kisuke was nice." Akahana finally interjects, after making so little comment this whole time.

"I guess." I reply, trying to hide my embarrassment at that memory. I totally screwed it up. I couldn't even make a whole sentence without stuttering.

"Although, I think you could have done better at your Japanese." She says, making fun of my less-than-intelligent replies.

"Shut up! I was… surprised." I attempt to defend myself.

"Oh, that's right, it's because he's so surprisingly handsome." She grins devilishly in my head.

"Well, maybe he is handsome, but—"

"Oh! There it is! You do like him!"

"Shut up! I never said that!" But she knows my cheeks are turning red. A carriage shows up from the bath house to take me home.

"You didn't have to! I'm you, so I know what you're thinking. I just needed a little concession that I can use as evidence!" She laughs evilly. I frown as I climb into the carriage.

"He's, like, a hundred years older than me…" I grumble at her under my breath, not wanting to have a full conversation with myself in front of the driver.

"But, what was it that you were thinking the other day...? Oh, yes, 'Age doesn't matter when you're dead!'" She sings at me as Mar and Adrian climb in.

"What's up with you?" Adrian asks, raising an eyebrow at my reddened face.

"Nothing." I say quickly, turning my head away.

"So, did you all pass?" Asks Nicole, one of the Lady's assistants, from the front seat.

"You bet we did!" Mar exclaims for the three of us. I hadn't even noticed. "Tomorrow, we're Soul Reapers!"

_(Author's Note: As a "treat" for my dear readers, check my profile for a new link to a sketch of Emiko and Akahana on my Deviant Art profile. Leave questions or comments there, in a review here, or in my PM box here. Don't get too excited, though. I'm not an excellent artist or anything.)_


	6. Chapter 6

_(Author's note: Speech written in italics is actually spoken or written in another language by the indicated character. It has been translated and noted this way for the reader's benefit.)_

Chapter 6

_"… And there are some moves that can completely cancel Kidô, but that's another day."_ Mr. Kiwosawa drones on in Japanese. Half the kids in the class are sleeping on their desks. You'd never guess that we'd only been in here for ten minutes.

_"So, to kick off the school year,"_ Kiwosawa says with the least enthusiasm ever employed, _"We'll be going outside to learn a bit about how you can use your Zanpaku-Tô."_ Heads shoot up everywhere, probably even in the world of the living, at the word "outside."

_"We're going to one of the training fields?"_ One of the more claustrophobic students exclaims.

_"Yes, but only for a short while. Just to get an idea of how exactly Kidô works." _And somehow Kiwosawa's monotone makes even the most interesting of ventures seem like a second death. _"So come on, everybody. If you hurry, you might just learn flash-step." _He sort of smirks at the closest thing to a joke ever to come out of his mouth. The kids, now disinterested, get up and shuffle toward the door, mumbling about how they wish they could switch classes. I don't blame them.

Turns out, the "outside" he mentioned is a field directly behind the looming building., a real breath of fresh air. There are worse places to be, though, so none of us want to explain.

_"For our lessons today, I've invited the Soul Society's most prominent expert on the advancement of Soul Reaper ability and technology, Kisuke Urahara, head of the Research and Development Department." _What? There's no way. But then, Kiwosawa isn't the sort to kid.

_"Students! A pleasure to meet you all!"_ Kisuke enters with a flourish from the shadows of the building, barely allowing a moment after his introduction. He puts a hand on his brow to shade his eyes from the sun (even though we're in the shade) and scans the class. _"And I spot a few familiar faces!" _He smiles comically wide.

_"So, I'm sure you're all very excited to start learning about some new moves! First, you've all learned to materialize your Zanpaku-Tô, so let's get them out of those sheaths and scabbards!"_ He continues animatedly, producing his own sword. All of the blades are different shapes and sizes around the crowd, but follow the same trend of looking like real swords. I never really thought Akahana was so strange...

_"Okay, let's see…"_ Kisuke looks across our group. _"I'm sure that you all have little idea of what you can do, since I doubt you've accomplished Shikai so far..." _Some kids frown or cough at that statement, offended. _"Who knows that they have a melee-type weapon?"_ Kisuke asks, looking around the crowd as some hands raise. Most of these are the kids destined for fighting. Kisuke calls up one boy with a standard katana, black and silver hilt. _"And who knows they have a kidô-type weapon?" _A few more raise their hands. He calls up a girl with a lengthy dagger, and she stands beside the boy, in front of Kisuke.

_"Alright! In this course, you'll learn how to activate Shikai if you haven't already. But, not until after you learn some other Kidô moves. Now,"_ He gestures at the boy beside him, _"this young man's Zanpaku-Tô, as a melee type, will allow him to produce more effective physical attacks, when he accomplishes Shikai." _The boy nods, slight frown on his face at the accusation that he is inexperienced. _"Right! Now, this young lady,"_ he gestures at the girl on his other side, _"And this young lady will only be capable of producing magic-type attacks with her Shikai."_ The girl smiles and nods, not so peeved as the guys in the class. _"But don't be fooled! Just because one uses melee, it doesn't mean he will be a fighter, and just because the other uses kidô, it doesn't mean she won't. My Zanpaku-Tô is a kidô type, and I'm the captain of the Twelfth Company!" _He laughs again, extremely charismatic._ "Now, I do believe I found a familiar face in the crowd…"_ He looks around, then points straight at me.

_"Emiko Taylor!"_ He calls. I freeze. _"Get over here!"_ I stand stock-still for a moment, glancing around as everyone turns to look at me, then slowly make my way to the front of the group. I turn around when I get a few feet away, displaying Akahana.

_"Emiko here has a very rare form of Zanpaku-Tô..." _He pauses, as if unsure how to go on. I glance at him anxiously. _"It is constantly released, in Shikai state. Some of you might have seen her release Shikai, however, at the exams. This is because her form has a relaxed and an active state. Some say it is easier to use the active state of a constantly released Zanpaku-Tô than it is to release Shikai on the average Zanpaku-Tô." _It seems like he's going to say something else, but doesn't. I don't even know what he's talking about. Raijin didn't mention any of this to me when we were training...

_"Let's see just how that works, shall we?" _Kisuke steps back and I turn to look at him confusedly. _"Have at it!"_ He smiles and holds his arms out, and I continue to stare at him blankly, probably too nervous to understand the cue. _"Come on!"_ He goads. _"Come get me!"_

"Here's your chance to impress him." Akahana whispers in my head. I take a breath, trying to calm my twisting insides.

_"Well?"_ Kisuke continues. _"Strike the killing blow! Mortally—"_

"Strangle, Akahana." I say under my breath, and she jumps into action. The students gasp when she reaches for him, surprised that I would attack a captain, even upon request. Kisuke doesn't move until she's almost at his chest, then he disappears. Hana spirals toward nothing for a moment, then stops.

"He used shun-pô." Akahana curses to me. I spin around quickly, falling low just as Kisuke strikes out with his own blade right where my neck would have been. My breath catches in my throat. He could have killed me. Akahana throws herself at him as I spring back up, and she wraps up around his chest to his neck. She laughs at me, suddenly. "You wish you could get this close, huh?" I scowl at her, but then correct my face before it's too noticeable, standing closely face to face with Kisuke.

_"Huh."_ Kisuke says calmly, eying me with some sort of emotion I can't read. _"I didn't expect you to figure that one out so quickly. You must have had a great teacher."_ I swallow nervously, unsure how to respond. A moment later, Kisuke raises his eyebrows at me. _"You could release me, you know."_ I try not to blush as I pull Akahana back. God, am I stupid.

_"Thank you for not killing me when you had the chance."_ He says lowly, and struts back to his original place, back in his showman routine once more. The students applaud, along with the pale-faced girl who got caught too close to the skirmish. He gestures at me and I awkwardly bow for the audience.

_"This is what you'll be aiming for toward the end of this course! So, today, we'll be working on the basics of fighting with each shape and type of Zanpaku-Tô."_

* * *

"I hear you beat up Captain Urahara today." Mar says to me with a smirk during lunch.

I pause with a cupcake halfway to my mouth, eyes widening. "Huh?"

"Yeah, in Zanpaku-Tô Advancement first period. Some kids were talking about it earlier. I can't believe you beat the captain of Twelfth Company!" He exclaims animatedly, much more excited than I was.

"No, I really didn't. It was a fluke. He could have had me if he wasn't just going easy on a student." I make a weak shrug, trying not to remember the embarrassing details, and take a bite from my cupcake.

"Yeah, you totally did!" Mar continues. "If you can beat a captain in battle, you can take their place! I think you should go talk to your teacher about it, because you could get out of here right now!" I sigh at him.

"I couldn't beat him in a real fight. He didn't even use Shikai. If he made it to Bankai, I'd be dead. There's no feasible way I could defeat him in an actual battle."

"I bet you could learn it. Three weeks, tops. Then have a rematch and kick his butt. I hear he's a total weirdo, anyway. Probably couldn't pay enough attention to win a real battle. I bet he was promoted because the other captain died." My stomach twists at that, upset by that accusation. Mar should really learn when to shut up, because I'm about ready to punch him. Never mind if he's insulting Kisuke (not that I care), but he can't go disrespecting captains like that.

"That's completely impossible." I respond, a little grumpiness in my voice. Most Soul Reapers can't even use Bankai. I've heard that even some captains haven't accomplished it.

"Sure you could! You never know until you try!" Mar insists. It's getting annoying. Somebody calls out that lunch is over and I pick up my trash. "Do you know awesome it would be to be able to say your friend is the captain of, like, Twelfth Company?!"

I roll my eyes. "I don't want to be the captain of Twelfth company, Mar."

"Yes, you do." Akahana reminds me, in the back of my mind. She flashes a wink and I frown at her again.

"Fine. But you're going to be at least third seat." Mar settles, though it's hardly a concession. I don't know how he can get so excited about something that's totally impossible.

I march up the steps into the school and dump my trash along the way, Mar yammering along behind me. Part of me is glad that I don't have any classes with him, and the other part is frustrated that I have to have lunch with him.

_(Author's Note: Anything to rejoice or complain about? Stick it in a review!)_


	7. Chapter 7

_(Author's note: Speech written in italics is actually spoken or written in another language by the indicated character. It has been translated and noted this way for the reader's benefit.)_

Chapter 7

"Do you have any idea on five?" Elizabeth asks from the other side of our room, struggling with the mid-term review for Kidô. She's not as good at memorizing phrases as she is at memorizing attack patterns. I shrug vaguely, flipping my journal closed to look at the review, then frown. This one is way too easy for her to not get.

"Bakudo Number One, Sai. To restrain." I respond, tapping my finger against the paper. The question asks which simple ability one would use to prevent an opponent from attacking.

"Oh, right!" She responds, and I hear her pen scratch across the paper.

Shaking my head to myself, I flip my journal back open, filling it out in Spanish because I don't know anyone who speaks that. Not that I'm writing anything that needs to be hidden. I just like the pretended secrecy.

"Oh, yeah, nothing to hide." Akahana comments to me sarcastically. I frown at her. "You're technically like twenty-one now, right? Isn't that a little old for a diary, Emiko?" She taunts snidely. I roll my eyes at her.

"What would you know?" I mumble back. "You're technically a toddler." Now she's offended. I smirk at her, for once, and close my journal.

"I'm going out for a bit." I tell Elizabeth as I step into my shoes. "Do you want anything?" I check under the pile beside my bed for my money while I speak.

"I shouldn't. Can't bother myself with treats when I have to get this studying done." She responds, and I nod, thankful that I don't need to waste my meager savings on her interests.

"Okay. I'll be back by dinner."

"I'm coming, right?" Akahana interrupts me before I can leave. I glance at her blade, sitting in the corner beside my bed.

"No." I whisper. She frowns in my head.

"You're going to leave me with this dumb log?!"

"Yes." I sigh at her. "You know the rules. Students aren't allowed to carry Zanpaku-Tô unless otherwise instructed." Elizabeth glances over at my frustrated mumbling, still not used to my conversations with Akahana, since it seems one-sided to anyone else. I can't blame her.

"Fine!" Akahana responds grumpily. "But don't expect us to be friends when you come back!" She tries that every time. I head out of the room and downstairs. There's a nice shop for frozen yogurt a couple of blocks from the academy, and I feel like that would be a good treat to substitute for my next few meals. I haven't really been hungry enough to eat regularly, like the others do. But then, I suppose that's because almost all of the studies I was assigned for this year are based on knowledge, with one final year combat class, and I have to see a tutor in between for some lessons I wasn't able to test out of upon admission to the academy.

Partway through the courtyard, a voice calls my name. I sigh, prepared for something else annoying, and turn around.

"Hey! Where are you headed?" I recognize the owner of the voice as Aidrian upon sight. That's better than a lot of people it could have been. I smile a little tightly, though, since I had planned to go out by myself.

"Oh, I was just headed out for a snack... I was thinking frozen yogurt, probably." I shrug, slowly turning back in the direction I was heading. Aidrian follows, falling into step beside me as I start off again.

"Y'know, that actually sounds pretty good right now." He responds, suggesting that he'll accompany me. I make a bit of a face and nod. Noticing this, he quickly adds "I mean, if you don't mind me coming along?" He looks concerned about upsetting me.

"No, that's fine. Good to have a friend who isn't busy or annoying." I smile at him, making up a reason to not be upset. He seems to take it, and we continue walking.

"So," Aidrian speaks up after a little while, "how's that hybrid schedule working for you?" Fine, but it's a nuisance. Everyone give me sideways looks for it.

"It's going well. It can be a little backwards at times, going from an advanced class to a first year class. But the first half of the year is nearly over, so it's not going too terribly." I explain, shrugging a little casually. He nods this time.

"Well, I mean, it has to be better than starting from the beginning like a loser, huh?" He chuckles, intending it as a joke, but I flinch. I kind of expected something different from him.

"Uh, not really. I think I'd prefer to just do it the normal way. I don't really think people like my leg up here." We reach the shop as I finish talking. Aidrian starts to step up to get the door, but I go through before he can. I catch his frown out of the corner or my eye. I apologize in my head while walking back toward the machines. Aidrian starts to speak up again when the front door slams back open behind us. We both whip around to find a Captain in the doorway, ushering in a group of other pedestrians from outside. The long blonde hair gives him away as Shinji Hirako, the captain of Fifth Company.

_"Uh, hey, sorry everyone... But we've got a breach in security going on out there, and you'll have to hide out in here until it gets resolved. If everybody would just go... I don't know, sit over by that central wall, with those ice cream machines or whatever it is."_ He doesn't really seem urgent about it, but everyone piles in quickly, pressing Aidrian and I to the wall.

_"So,"_ Captain Hirako says, glancing back and forth between us and the door, _"what shall we do here? What say we play a game? Everyone... says their name, and then another word that starts with the same letter as their name, yeah?" _He claps his hands, as if that makes it more engaging, and puts on a strange smile. He glances around the group, then sticks a slender finger out at a woman near the front of the group. _"You, pretty lady! You can go first!"_ She stares at him.

_"Shouldn't you go first?" _She responds, completely not entertained._ "Y'know, since you came up with it?"_

Captain Hirako pauses, seemingly stricken. _"Yes..."_ He responds slowly, straightening himself. _"That was a test, of course."_ I don't believe him. _"Well, I would say Shinji... and... snake, I guess. So, next!" _He puts his arm back out enthusiastically, carefully avoiding the woman from before. He points at Aidrian. _"You, sir! In the back!"_ Aidrian looks at me, because he still has no idea what's going on. He doesn't know much Japanese, outside of how to introduce himself. Somewhat luckily, I don't have to instruct him, because the left side of the building is blown apart. Some people shriek, and Captain Hirako turns quickly toward the action, drawing his Zanpaku-Tô. Apparently the breach involves Hollows, because a very large one is attempting to muscle his way into the building.

_"Game is paused, everyone."_ Captain Hirako announces, then leaps toward the Hollow, slashing at its legs and distracting it from the dense group of souls. It screeches violently, huge claws crushing the other nearby buildings as it attempts to catch the darting blonde. Aidrian grabs my arm, pushing himself slightly in front of me. I raise an eyebrow at him. He's less likely to be able to do anything than I am, with his far more limited experience. He doesn't notice my look, though, and watches the action outside intently. It doesn't take long, though. Captain Hirako is a strong fighter, stronger than his build would suggest. Some ten minutes in, he deals the finishing blow, outside of my range of view, and returns, pausing just at the edge of the lost side of the building.

_"Alright, it seems that everything is under control, so you can go home. We'll pick the game up another time."_ He kids on the last part, another odd grin on his face.

As the crowd disperses, Aidrian looks back at me again. He quickly notices his hand still gripping my arm, and he drops it. "Sorry about that..." He comments, turning and leading the way back toward the academy before I can see his face. I smile a bit at that.

"Don't worry about it." I tell him gently, following along more pleasantly than before. After that, though, we walk silently. He drops me off at the front of my building with a quick bye, then disappears to wherever he was before the trip. Pausing for a moment, I head back upstairs to my room.

Elizabeth sits with my review sheets on her desk, and jumps when I reappear.

"Oh! Sorry, I was just trying to check the wording on this one chant..." Her words turn into a mumble toward the end, and she hands the papers back to me. I give her a silent look, then return to my desk, dropping them down on top of my journal, which appears untouched. I start to open it, to continue writing, but decide against it.

"So you went out and had this great adventure, and can't even write it down for me to see?" Akahana grumbles in my head. I roll my eyes at her.

"Not everything is your business." I mumble back to her, stepping out of my shoes and sticking my money back into the pile by my bed.

"I really think that it is, since we're connected. And it's kind of up to me whether you can succeed at fighting... I mean, I think that'd be a great determinant in your entry to Twelfth Company..." She always tries that, too.

"I guess that's not my company, then." I return, then flop down on my bed and roll over, tuning out the rest of her protests.

_(Author's Note: How was this chapter? I'd love to read what you thought in a review!)_


	8. Chapter 8

_(Author's note: Speech written in italics is actually spoken or written in another language by the indicated character. It has been translated and noted this way for the reader's benefit.)_

Chapter 8

"_Pick up the pace!_" Yoruichi "Flash Master" Shihôin yells over her shoulder. We're coming up on the enlistment exams, and the exiting students are undergoing heavy-duty preparations. Right now, I really wish I could be almost anywhere else. I wouldn't even mind hanging out with Mar, if I could get out of this.

"_C'mon!_" One of the other students calls, and I glance back, only to realize that they were speaking to another student, a few hundred yards back. I'm always paranoid of complaints from the other kids about my performance.

I don't even know where we are at this point. The entire forest looks just the same. All I know is that we've been taking frequent turns, so I can only assume that this place isn't as large as it seems, and that Yoruichi is making this as complicated a route as she can. I saw some kids fallen over earlier, worn out by the exertion from constant shun-pô.

From the front, not too many yards ahead of me, Yoruichi shouts more commands back. I can't imagine that she actually enjoys doing this lesson every year, or that any of the guest teachers have enjoyed their classes. Well, except Kisuke. He seems to love an audience.

We finally reach the clearing after a few more flash steps, and I plop heavily down in the grass. Some kid rolls his eyes at me as he follows, apparently under the impression that I'm putting on a show. We've been running for at least ten miles so far, so I think I'm justified in being ready for a break. I think I'm also justified in wanting to punch some of these kids in their faces.

Yoruichi, improbably, walks over and takes a seat a few feet away from me. _"You've got quite the endurance, there... Emiko, was it?" _She comments, reclining on the grass. I give her a confused look, nodding slightly at the question of my name. _"Yeah. You're a really different student. In a good way, I mean." _She's just as vague as everyone else has been, when trying to compliment my abilities.

_"I guess... I don't really like to think of it that way..."_ I respond, skewing my mouth.

Yoruichi smiles back at me, which just seems weird. "I get that_. But, I must say, my dear friend Kisuke has a good eye for these things. Maybe you're just underestimating yourself._"I don't know how to respond at the mention of an opinion from Kisuke. What would he be doing, commenting on my abilities? I haven't even seen him in months... Yoruichi glances to the sheath of her own sword, then back to me. "_I mean, I've never seen a Soul Reaper who had a Zanpaku-Tô before entering the Shihô-Reijutsuin. I don't think he has, either. And, of course, I've heard some murmurings from other captains about you. They're all interested in seeing your performance at the tournament._" I really don't know what to say to that. Yoruichi smirks at my lack of response.

_"You didn't hear anything from me, of course."_ She notes, then stands to go nag the kids still arriving.

After an extremely short period of rest, we're all back up on our feet again to shun-pô all the way back to the building for our next class. I believe we're on the other side of the Seireitei from there. Mar and Aidrian are probably taking notes on a history lecture right now. Lucky ducks. Instead, I get shoved off my feet by a couple of kids determined to prove that they can beat me back. Yeah, I'm sure they can. I don't care who gets there first, as long as we get back.

* * *

"There goes Captain Urahara." Elizabeth elbows me in the side. "You should go say hi to him." She nods toward the other end of the street with a smile. I give her a look, not recalling where she would have gotten the idea to make such a comment, then look in the direction of her nod to where Kisuke glances in storefronts, meandering down the street toward us. I fight away the heat in my cheeks and shrug it off.

"I'm sure he's very busy, you know, with some captain business."

Elizabeth laughs at me. "Nobody who has something to do walks around like that."

I glance back at him again, frowning at Elizabeth's response. "Well… maybe he just… doesn't want to get there in a hurry…?"

"Fine!" Elizabeth grabs my wrist and drags me down one of the intersecting streets before he notices us. "I'm mean, gosh, you don't want to talk to him, then don't. You can't just stand there gawking like a weirdo."

"Sorry." I reply, uncomfortable with this conversation. I don't really like people knowing my thoughts.

"Don't apologize to me. I wasn't the one you were creepily gazing at from afar." She teases just before we reach the coffee shop we'd been aiming for. She's become much more interested in going out for things as of late, though I'd expect her to be more stressed than she was back at midterms.

"You may just be a student, but that doesn't take you off the market." I make a really strange expression at that comment. Elizabeth laughs. "I mean, if he wanted an older woman, wouldn't he have one by now? He's definitely saving himself for you."

"He's a captain!" I retort before I catch her joking tone. I cover that embarrassment by stepping up to the counter to order.

"So what? Captains can't have feelings too?" Elizabeth continues, determined to push my buttons. I wish she wouldn't shout it across the whole store, though.

I groan and move aside so she can place her order. "Not for students! It's like, mental molestation of a minor, or something." That was a really lame attempt at an excuse.

Elizabeth snorts and sits at one of the nearby tables after she's finished the order. I follow. "In case you haven't noticed, the rules of the world of the living don't really apply here. I mean, obviously, since we're not even dead now. And age really doesn't mean anything, any more. A person can put off aging for about as long as they want. How old do you think he looks?"

I make a face at her. "Captain Urahara?" I ask stupidly.

She rolls her eyes. "No, the Queen Mother." I raise my eyebrows at that reference. "Yes, Kisuke Urahara."

I shrug. "I don't know… I guess he looks kind of… twenty-four?" I say it like a question, mostly because I'm anxious about having this conversation. I didn't ever do much talk about guys when I was alive, and now the situation is even weirder.

Elizabeth laughs. "He's been dead a lot longer than that!" I frown at her. Of course I knew that. I'm not stupid. She shrugs at my frown, hopping up from her seat to go pick up our coffees from the counter.

"So, you really shouldn't worry so much about captain versus student." She continues, passing my coffee across the table. I shake my head.

"I'm not worried about anything. I don't concern myself with his interest in me. I have other goals, like going to find my family." Elizabeth gives me a look like she knows better. I probably do, too.

"You can keep on telling yourself that. But when you get your priorities turned around again, I'll be here to say I told you so." She gives me a smart smirk before turning to her coffee. She's much better at this than classwork, I have to admit.

_(Author's Note: I love people who review my chapters.)_


	9. Chapter 9

_(Author's note: Speech written in italics is actually spoken or written in another language by the indicated character. It has been translated and noted this way for the reader's benefit.)_

Chapter 9

"So, do you all have your Hell Butterflies?" Asks our overly-peppy teacher, who requests that we all call her Cindy. We all got tired of her a long time ago. She's over-pepped even when she's angry. "If you're all ready, then let's go!"

We just finished going over the Hollow Purification practices in her class. So, Cindy decided that we should all take a field trip through the Senkaimon into the world of the living to see if we could come across any live examples, and to "have a little fun" before the recruitment exams begin. Getting the Hell Butterflies for all of these students was terrible, since it's composed entirely of English-speaking first-years. This is the only platform class I had to take, just for the knowledge. All these students run around like headless chickens, with no care at all about their imminent death if they try to cross without a Hell Butterfly. Not that it's any of my concern. If they're gone, that's less competition later on.

Wait. Why am I thinking that? I should be happy that there will be plenty of others to work with in the future. I check my head for Akahana's influence, but she's not hanging around at the moment. I try to forget it and go back to the matters at hand.

Cindy opens up the Senkaimon gate and ushers the other students through. I bring up the rear, herding the stupid kids into order. The trip is over in almost an instant and we all find ourselves standing in a big park. A few ghosts are hanging around a bench, talking about something to do with ice cream. They scatter when they see us.

"So, everybody," Cindy shouts over the dull roar of mumbling freshmen, "there's been a Hollow in this town causing a lot of ruckus. Today, we'll perform a purification on it. That's an important part of a Soul Reaper's work. We have to try to keep Hollows from harming any people. So let's get going!" And then she turns around to lead us through the streets, unnoticed by the regular citizens.

I believe she said this town was called Karakura. It's in Japan, and has a growing population of ghosts and Hollows and other such supernatural beings. Funny that I'd wind up here, in the country I'd been traveling to before I died.

"So, this old factory is home to a small Hollow. If you'd like, I'll take a volunteer to purify it. Otherwise, I'll do it myself, and you kids can see how it's done from me." We approach a tall, dark building as she speaks. Most of the windows are broken, and the front doors have gone missing, probably long before. A strange whining escapes from the openings of the building, apparently the sounds of the Hollow. "Would anybody like to give it a shot?" Cindy asks again, stopping in front of the gates surrounding the building to turn to us.

Should I? It would be good for the experience, before I graduate. And Cindy always gets upset when nobody volunteers. I put my hand up as she scans the group.

"Just Emiko? Really?" I turn, noticing that I really am the only one who bothered to volunteer. I suppose their uneasiness is justified – none of us have, presumably, actually met a Hollow before.

"Alright, then!" Cindy turns and opens the chain link gate for me, apparently pleased by the turnout. "Good luck!" She says as I pass through the crowd of students. They turn and look at me as if I came out of nowhere. "I'll back you up if it comes to that!" She pats my shoulder when I pass, then gently shuts the gate behind me. I wouldn't call her the most encouraging of teachers, offering help but shutting me in with an unknown, soul-eating beast.

A strange voice weaves out of the looming doorway as I approach. "Moooommmyyyy…" It moans. The body follows shortly after, only just squeezing through the hole. "IIIII'mm huuungryyyyy…" It's small, compared to many Hollows. Sort of a dog and human put together for the body, with a vulture head. I guess it's a little boy, or used to be one. Maybe he was forced to work here a long time ago, before child labor was enforced, then died here because his mom was dead, he couldn't leave, and he couldn't get any food, so he starved. Morbid, I know, but that sort of analysis just comes to you after sitting in a classroom and learning about these things for a year.

"Hey," I begin, because they sometimes have enough sense left to talk to you. Apparently this one is too far gone. He jumps on me before I can finish, slamming my back into the concrete. I lift my head enough not to crack my skull open, but it still hurts.

"Food!" He growls in my face, and opens his beak. I hurriedly throw him off of me and jump to my feet, back protesting stabbing pains. The kids on the other side of the fence murmur their comments, but I tune them out. Like they could do any better. They couldn't even be bothered to volunteer. I pull Akahana out and point her at the Hollow. He lifts himself up and starts toward me, ignoring the new threat.

"Get him, Akahana." She smiles in my head and springs toward the Hollow, but not before he leaps. My eyes follow him high up and over my head, and my body reacts a moment later. I spin to face him and take a jump-step forward to close the distance between us. Aim for the head, I remember from Cindy's brightly illustrated lessons. I raise my arms up and bring them quickly back down, slicing between the Hollow's eyes. I screeches and bucks, trying to get away, but there's no time for that now. Instead of blood, thousands of tiny Reishi particles fly through the air around me and through a portal that opened with the purification. I try to catch a last glimpse of the boy/Hollow, but he's gone. He burst when I hit him, and disappeared almost instantly.

"That was so cool!" One guy comments.

"Did you see the way she hit it?" Another responds.

"I raised my hand. Cindy just ignored me." Another, pompous but cowardly boy speaks up.

"I didn't see it! What happened?" One girl whines to her friends.

"I could've done that. That Hollow was a baby compared to the one I saw last week." The same pompous kid remarks.

Those and the other comments of the students begin to filter into my ears as I walk back to the fence, shrugging my shoulders and trying to get my back into order again.

"Great job, Emiko!" Cindy applauds when I step through the gate. "You purified that kid like no other!" I step past her without making a comment and mix into the crowd of kids, her praise really doesn't mean that much to me.

"Okay, everybody," Cindy turns to address us, "make sure you've got your Hell Butterflies, and we'll head back home!" There's a small amount of scrambling as some kids run to catch their escaped butterfly, likely flown off because they couldn't be bothered to actually look after it, and the rest of us shuffle back to the park, parting to allow humans through our ranks. It's a quick trip back to the Soul Society, and I head straight to my room for a good rest.

* * *

"Bankai." My opponent's eyes open wide, scared now of what that means. "Hanakumi Zen." He raises his sword weakly, attempting defense, only to realize that his has disappeared. Akahana's blade writhes in his hands, disgusted by the relocation, but continues the battle. She shoots up his arm and has the poor kid bound before he can even react.

"End!" The referee calls, and I return Akahana to my hands. My opponent scrapes himself up from the ground, blood dripping all down his torso from Akahana's attack.

_"Congratulations, Miss Taylor."_ Yoruichi speaks as she descends from her platform. _"You have won this tournament." _She shakes my hand warmly, as a master of ceremonies would do for any winner. _"I'm certain that any squad would welcome you to wake up, Emiko! You're going to be late if you don't hurry up!"_

"Whuh...?" I hit the ground, and my eyes snap open. What just happened?

"Put some clothes on and let's get out of here!" Elizabeth yells. She tosses a lump of clothing onto my face impatiently.

I mumble back at her, mouth dry from spitting a sock out of my mouth. After a moment, I try again. "I'm getting ready!"

"Well, you've got about two minutes to finish!" She commands, then marches out of the room. She sure knows how to anger me into moving.

I toss my clothes on in a hurry and jump up, calling "Let's go!" as I stomp into my shoes and head out the door. Elizabeth is already starting down the stairs at the end of the hallway, and I hurry after her. It's been just a couple weeks since my first encounter with a Hollow, but the odd schedule leads me to the tournament not long after.

We reach the arena just in time to check the tournament listings. Elizabeth's going fifth. I'm up twelfth. After a breath, I follow her to our seats among the rest of the graduating students, and check my uniform, making sure I got it on correctly in that short time. It's kind of ridiculous, how it was designed. I mean, in traditional times, it might have made sense to tie your pants and shirt on, but we've come a long way since then.

Pair after pair go up to fight as I watch. The matches are fairly short, usually made up of an awful fighter and a strong fighter. I wonder if that was on purpose. Elizabeth wins this match, just barely. She's worked hard for it. Some other students I know go up for their matches, and before I know it, it's my turn.

_(Author's Note: For those of you keeping up with updates, I did add two chapters today on purpose. I feel like the last few kind of sucked... A couple comments would be appreciated!)_


	10. Chapter 10

_(Author's note: Speech written in italics is actually spoken or written in another language by the indicated character. It has been translated and noted this way for the reader's benefit.)_

Chapter 10

I step up. My opponent quakes; you can tell he's not a fighter.

"Begin." The referee speaks. I launch forward and put Akahana's blade around his neck before the kid can draw his blade. He shivers, but I don't intend to kill him.

"End!" The referee calls, obviously surprised. The kid must be a healer, because he touches his blade to the back of his neck, where I might have slightly nicked him. A few people clap, but it wasn't a great win.

I take my seat again to wait out the rest of the matches for this round. There is a short break between rounds, to confirm the pairs for this round, and the next set of matches is announced. I'm first this time.

"Begin." The referee calls when my opponent and I are in place.

The girl takes the first move this time, not wanting to end up like the last guy. I wait until she approaches, and I can see her confusion, trying to figure out why I haven't responded. Just before her strike, I step aside and swing my leg out, striking the back of her knee with my heel. Her leg gives out and I swing Akahana's blade around to catch her around the middle. She tosses her sword away in time to catch herself on the ground and avoid being sliced in half.

"End!" The referee calls, and I carefully pull Akahana away. Again, just a few people applaud. There hasn't been anything terribly exciting so far.

I return to my seat again, and watch for Elizabeth's second round. She fights well and wins, but it was another short match.

As this round ends, the few wounded are escorted away as the next round is announced. I have the third match, of eight. Elizabeth has the first round, which goes by too quickly. She loses to a guy with a mohawk who fights like he has no regard for honor. He receives no applause, even his friends reluctant to cheer him on. Another regular match runs through, a little longer than the others. I leave my seat at the end and reenter the arena.

My opponent struts forward confidently as the referee announces the start of the match. The guy in front of me immediately uses a shun-pô and I spring up, narrowly missing the sweep of his blade where my ankles would have been. So he plays for blood.

"Strangle, Akahana." I command, and she springs forward, whipping toward our opponent. He responds more slowly, surprised, and lifts his blade against us. Akahana rips it from his hands, throwing it off behind us by several meters. The guy takes another flash step to escape and try to reach his blade. I turn around and copy the movement, reaching his blade a half second earlier.

"He was just too cocky." Akahana comments, grinning as she wraps around our opponent's arm. He yelps and slaps at her, only succeeding in slicing himself more than necessary.

"Hey!" Akahana yells inside my head, and throws her blade around his neck.

"End!" The referee calls, trying to prevent a death. Akahana reluctantly pulls back, and our opponent gapes at his wounds, some deeper than others. Some more people clap for this one, happy to see a little more display. I return to my seat while they applaud, and while the defeated young man is taken off for healing. The rest of the competitors go up, pulling out a few more tricks, as my match had gone. The next four matches are announced. I'm up fourth, against the mohawk guy that beat Elizabeth.

Before I know it, the referee is announcing the beginning of my next match. Mohawk guy smirks and approaches steadily, sword raised in position to strike.

"Let's trash him right now!" Akahana suggests, eager to defeat the guy that took Elizabeth down. I shake my head slightly at her.

"They're looking for skill and precision, not cowardly killing. We'll work our way up to it." I respond in a mumble, parrying the mohawk's first attack.

"C'mon, you're barely trying!" Akahana whines. I dodge another strike from the mohawk and sweep at him with the outer curve of Akahana's blade. The guy steps away easily.

"It's not a big deal here." I respond quietly. "He's just fast, but he's not that good." The mohawk guy mumbles something to his sword, activating his Shikai, and suddenly has flames shooting from his hilt. The audience gasps as I roll away, sustaining only minor burns. A move like that will be hard to counter with our Shikai, because I have to physically approach him. It's better to use that, though, than try to reach with just the couple of feet in her resting shape.

"Strangle, Akahana." I command again, and take a running leap over mohawk guy, Akahana spirals toward his head in the air, but he ducks out of her reach. She does manage to cut a chunk out of his mohawk, though, and now he's really angry.

"I've got him." Akahana tells me, turning for mohawk's ankle as I hit the ground. He yells and points his flame-thrower at me, and I flatten to the ground. Akahana climbs his leg toward his chest quickly, and the referee calls for the end of the match.

"No!" The mohawk guy yells back, turning his flames to the referee who jumps away in surprise.

"I'll kill him." Akahana tells me, but I shake my head, breathing hard against the ground.

"No. Wait." I murmur, and mohawk guy turns back to me, weapon following. I throw my arm over my head, though it won't save me from the burns. I can see the grin on his face, but it quickly changes into something painful. The flames stop. I look up fully, and the referee stands behind him, his face hidden behind the chopped mohawk, and the rest of his head covered by a hood.

_"You can let go now."_ He says in Japanese, indicating Akahana, who has constricted to draw blood rather severely.

"O-oh!" I reply, pulling a reluctant Akahana off of the guy. The referee withdraws a dagger from mohawk guy's back and steps away, face now obscured by a mask. A couple of medics restrain the mohawk guy and take him away.

_"You alright?"_ The referee asks in a strange accent, stooping down over me. _"They'll clean up any injuries you sustained after the referee called the match."_

_ "No. Ah, no, I'm fine."_ I respond, still a little dazed from the sudden change in events.

_"Alright then." _He answers, and offers me a hand as he stands. I take it gratefully, and pull myself up.

_"The tournament may continue!"_ The referee announces, then steps back off to the sidelines of the arena. I return to my seat as well, catching my breath.

I space out during the first match, thinking back to my family. I know that they must be out in the Rukongai somewhere. Most likely, they aren't even together, where ever they are. They could be in danger, in one of the lower ranked areas. My mother wouldn't handle that well.

"Second match!" The referee calls at me, and I jerk out of my thoughts, rising from my seat. I've lost the interest to fight, though.

"Begin!" The referee calls, once I've reached position.

"Strangle, Akahana." I grumble, and she springs forward, spiraling down the length of the girl's sword, up her arm, and around her neck. The girl chokes in surprise. I don't know how she made it this far if she couldn't even react to that in time. The referee calls the end of the match, and Akahana unwinds, relaxing back into her regular state.

"What was up with that?" Hana asks me as I walk back to my seat.

"I just wasn't in the mood for a good fight. Besides, I need to conserve my strength for this last match." I explain, half-lying, though I don't think she would believe it anyway.

The referee calls for a ten minute period before the start of the final match. I lean back in my seat, staring out at the stands across the arena. I can't really make out the people over there. Yoruichi is obvious, in a chair set apart from the others. The white robes give away the captains behind her, but I can't tell the individual faces.

"Hey, Emiko." A voice speaks up beside me. I jump slightly and look over, recognizing Aidrian's face.

"Uh, hey. What... what are you doing over here?" I ask, confused. He lifts his hand in response, showing me a plastic-wrapped item

"Thought you might need a little pick-me-up, after all that fighting. And I know how bad you are about skipping meals." He chuckles, tossing a protein bar into my lap as he takes the seat beside me. I smile a bit awkwardly, remembering our uncomfortable and memorable venture for frozen yogurt, and unwrap the snack. Really, I hadn't even thought that I was hungry. I hadn't noticed being hungry much at all, recently. I didn't know if that meant anything, so I didn't mention it, but I guess he noticed.

"Oh, and I got this as well." He adds casually, producing a bottle of juice. I chuckle a bit at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you a walking convenience store or something, now?" I ask jokingly. He laughs.

"Not exactly. I just planned ahead." He says it casually again, like it's not anything to be surprised about. But he wouldn't know ahead of time that I would make it this far. I shake my head a little, to myself, and take a bite from the bar. Chocolate, and not a bad kind.

"Thanks." I tell him after a moment, and he just nods, nice smile on his lips. I glance away, having my meal slowly, then look back to him. He glances over as well, giving me a mildly curious look.

"So..." I begin, pausing awkwardly. Aidrian starts to say something, but I pick up talking again. "If you don't mind my asking... Why did you... ah..." I glance down to the arm he had showed me upon our first meeting. I don't think we'd ever discussed it, after he was so blatant about it. He gives me an odd look, then glances down at his arm.

"Oh!" He laughs, strangely enough. Now I give him the odd look. "No, it's not really a huge deal to ask. I mean, I guess I was in a dark place at the time. It's not really the same now." He chuckles a little awkwardly, and pushes his bangs from his face. "It was really stupid, looking back. See, my parents were divorced, to start with. I was always shuttling back and forth between their places, which just made me feel like a torn person to start with. Then, at school, I was one of those kids that always got made fun of and whatever for having a dark attitude and dark clothes. Even the goths and whatever had no interest in me. So, I eventually decided that it would be better to be lost in oblivion than lost in a world of other people. And so, I did this." He gestures with his scarred inner arm. "I thought that'd get me out of it. But I guess it didn't exactly work out that way." He chuckles again.

"Oh." I respond awkwardly, not sure how to talk to someone about that.

"So, what about you?" Aidrian asks, easily changing topics. I pause, chewing the inside of my lip. I haven't talked about it since I arrived in the Soul Society...

"Nothing spectacular, I guess. It was... a plane crash. I was on the way to Japan with my mother." I tell him quietly, staring away into stands. If I don't say it loudly, maybe it won't hurt as much. "I just wish I could have prepared for it... Like, you knew what was coming. You were ready for it, in a way. I was just on my laptop, and suddenly a huge chunk of plane was burying itself into my chest and..." I stop abruptly, trying to take a breath beneath the pressure on my chest.

"I think I would've liked to go like that." Aidrian responds, relieving some of the tension in the situation. I smile at him gratefully. "Like, I probably would've lived longer, that way. Maybe it would've turned out that I was just making all that crap up, about how royally effed up the world is. But, y'know, the grass is always greener on the other side." He smiles, a little ruefully.

"The final round is about to begin!" The referee calls from the center of the arena. I stand, and Aidrian does as well.

"Hey." He says beside me, and I look over at him. "Break a leg." He squeezes my shoulder encouragingly, then hurries back off to his spot in the stands. I take a breath, assuring that the rest of my meal is left in the chair, then step out to my place for the start of the match. I recognize my opponent immediately. He's the top of the outgoing class. He's never lost a battle against anybody.

"We've got this." Akahana says reassuringly. I shake my head. There's no way.

"Begin."

I leap forward and clash blades with my opponent. He's been watching me this whole time, and he knows what I can do. Meanwhile, I was just staring at the clouds, barely paying a lick of attention. He flicks his wrist in an attempt to disarm me, but his blade just hooks itself inside of Akahana's. I flick my wrist down and my opponent, surprised for the moment, drops his blade. I toss it off behind me, as I had done earlier, and advance.

_"I don't think so."_ Growls the boy, and he takes a flash step around me to grab his blade. I spin and narrowly manage to block his next blow, catching the edge of his blade in the dimple of Akahana's. I push forward, forcing his blade backward to point at him. I can't push it into his face without losing grip, and I can't switch to Shikai for the same reason. I drop one hand to grab the hilt of his sword, but he squats to the ground, letting Akahana slide off the tip of his sword. I jump aside, but he still manages a shallow cut on my left thigh. His blade is dirty and it stings, but I have to continue. I hit the ground and roll over, coming up in the momentum of the turn and swinging Akahana around like a scythe. Yoshi – I think his name is – jerks away just a little too slowly, and I notch his knee. Blood pours down instantly, and he hops back on the other leg.

"C'mon, let's do Shikai." Akahana goads in the back of my mind. "I'll move slow, make him think we're worn out. Then I'll strike, when he thinks it's in the bag." I clash swords with Yoshi again.

"Strangle, Akahana." I whisper, just over her blade. If I can't win, I might as well put on a show. I move quickly out of the path of my opponent's blade as Akahana sluggishly curves toward him.

_"That all you got?"_ Yoshi remarks, laughing as he swings again. I jump away and shun-pô to the other side of the arena. It would be more interesting to the audience that way.

"Great." Akahana encourages. "Now when he comes back, disarm him, then you can drop me, and he won't see it coming when I grab him."

"I don't think that's going to happen." I respond, as Yoshi comes barreling toward us. I prepare to defend against his blade, but suddenly his elbow crashes into my gut, and I fly backwards into the wall I'd been standing too close to. The audience makes an appropriate sympathetic noise.

"Shit!" I curse, grabbing my head where it hit the wall. I'd forgotten to pull it forward in my surprise. Yoshi takes the opportunity to stab at me, and I lurch to the side, but he's pinned my sleeve. I yank my arm back, ripping the fabric up to my shoulder.

"Aww, I liked that uniform." Akahana comments facetiously. I groan at her jokes. There's no time for that. Yoshi mumbles something over his sword, activating his Shikai.

I jump into the air when I see his blade disappear, and look down to see it sprout up from the dirt exactly where I was standing. If that's his Shikai, I can't imagine what his Bankai would look like. I take another swing at him when I hit the ground and manage to rip the front of his uniform, but not his skin. I leap over him again to avoid the underground sword. With a move like this, he's at a disadvantage in close combat, but I can't stay in one place for too long.

I jump up and stick to the wall, using a kidô move I'd recently learned. Yoshi looks up and just smirks at me. Before I can realize why, a stabbing pain shoots up into my foot.

"What the...?!" Akahana exclaims at the same time as my shriek pierces the air. The pain shoots up through my leg and into the rest of my body as the blade hits bone. I fall off the wall and hit the ground, huffing and moaning painfully.

_"Tough luck." _Yoshi says over me. I see Akahana shoot up toward him, spiraling around to his heart through the tears in my eyes. Yoshi looks at me, shocked.

"End!" The referee calls, almost in sync with my screams as Yoshi's blade launches up from the ground and through my chest.

_(Author's Note: Yes, more review spam. I appreciate it.)_


	11. Chapter 11

___(Author's note: Speech written in italics is actually spoken or written in another language by the indicated character. It has been translated and noted this way for the reader's benefit.)_

Chapter 11

_"Alright, Emiko. I think that I have gotten you all patched up now. You are rather lucky, you know. When your Zanpaku-Tô jumped out to get that boy, it pulled you over just enough to avoid a fatal injury. Considering the location of your wound, and the witness reports, you would have been skewered straight through the heart otherwise. We probably wouldn't have been able to patch you up from that."_ The woman rests her hand politely on my shoulder, attempting a move of comfort. It takes me a moment to remember that she is Captain Unohana, of the Fourth Company.

_"Thanks."_ I say simply, chest aching too much to put all the breath through for speech. Unohana smiles.

_"Oh, but I do need to ask you about one thing, regarding your last fight. Nobody else can say for certain when his last blow hit, and he needs to receive due penalization for an attack after the match ended."_

I shake my head gently. _"No... his blade hit... at the same time as... the referee..."_ I stop there, deciding that she can infer the last few words. She does, and nods.

"Alright. I will let the officials know. You should continue to rest here for a while – I am sure that you can feel your wound has not fully healed." She bows slightly, then turns to leave. I turn my eyes to the ceiling, but Unohana turns back and speaks again. _"Also, will you mind allowing visitors in? Or would you prefer that I have them turned away until you are feeling better?_

I look confused at the idea that anyone would come in, but nod at her. _"They can come... in." _Unohana gives me another nod, then exits. Barely a moment later, Elizabeth rushes in.

"Oh, gosh! I'm so glad you're okay! I thought certainly that you were finished!" She speaks rapidly over my bed, full of concern. I smile, nodding slightly at her as well.

"Thanks... I'm okay... Just takes time..." I look down at my bandaged foot sticking out of the sheet. I wiggle my toes slightly, painfully. I think the bone was fractured, if not broken, by that hit.

"Not as bad as death though, right?" Elizabeth jokes, trying to lighten the mood. I smirk at her and push some breath through my nose.

"Yeah... Suppose so." She nods, a little awkwardly, not sure where to go with it when I can't walk much.

"Well," She starts, stepping back from my bed, "I'd better get going. I've been accepted into the ranks on Thirteenth Company, and I guess I'm supposed to go meet them in a bit." She shows me the badge sewn inside her new uniform, as if I didn't believe her. I nod approvingly. Thirteenth is a good place for her, I think.

"Oh!" She says, apparently realizing something she'd forgot. "And there should be someone up here later to welcome you to their company..." She grins slyly, raising her eyebrows. I try to ask who she means, but she steps out before I can.

Mar comes in right after her, giving me a lengthy hello that I'm too tired to deal with. He leaves after a few minutes, realizing that I'm not responding except for some vague nods. Only a short while passes between his exit and Aidrian's entrance. You'd think I could more rest, with these injuries.

"Hey." Aidrian says, taking a seat in the chair by my bed. "Sorry, I didn't bring you a snack this time." He chuckles slightly, passing a little smile onto my lips.

"It's fine... I didn't break... my leg, either." I smirked, and Aidrian paused a moment before understanding the joke. He laughs a bit in return. It still feels a little strained.

"Hey, I don't blame you. You were still great, though. Crowd favorite, I think." He taps my shoulder with a curled fist, jokingly. I roll my eyes, shifting myself up into more of a sitting position, ignoring the protest of my wound. Aidrian starts to get up to help, but I shake my head, settling again with my upper back on the pillow.

"See...? I'm fine." Aidrian nods, settling back into his seat. I wish he wouldn't be concerned.

"So, do you know when you'll be getting out?" He asks curiously, probably just making conversation, though.

"Not sure... Few days, at least..." I tell him, just guessing. Unohana didn't really offer any idea of when I'd be out. Aidrian just nodded.

"Well, you can expect me back when that time comes. We'll get something better than the hospital food they've got here, right?" I smile a little awkwardly and nod, not really responding. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

"Cool." Aidrian smiles. "Get well soon!" He encourages, then waves as he exits. Once he's out the door, I sigh. He's a nice guy, a friend. I'm imagining things into it, is all. It'd be nice to make up for the previously ruined excursion for frozen yogurt.

Leaning my head against the wall, I watch the ceiling for a while. I hear some bustle in the hallway, but nobody comes in to speak with or check on me. My bandages are getting uncomfortable, but I suppose that Unohana would have come in already if it was time for a check or change. A half hour passes slowly. I start to miss the company, to keep me from being so bored. There isn't much to do in here.

_"Emiko!"_ A familiar voice calls from the doorway. _"I hope you're feeling well!"_ Kisuke strides across the room and takes the vacant seat beside my bed. I stare at him silently, but he doesn't really seem to notice my confusion.

_"That was quite the show you put on out there! But, and don't take this the wrong way, I really didn't think you were going to pull the win on that last one."_ I still struggle for a response. _"But you did! A great victory, and I shouldn't have expected any less, considering the experience we've had."_ He tosses me a playful wink, laughing at the uncontrollable pink on my cheeks. I try to swallow it down.

_"Ah, thank you..."_ I reply, voice a little choked by the pain and my nerves. Kisuke looks at me, and I could almost fool myself into thinking he's concerned. My hand presses to my chest, trying to stabilize the uncomfortable feeling there. I see Kisuke's eyes follow automatically, and I drop my eyes to not have to look at him. I notice, then, that my scar is rather visible above the bandages. I slide my hand up to cover it, but it's pointless.

_"That's not from this fight? It wouldn't have scarred so soon."_ He speaks in observation. I swallow nervously. I don't think that I can handle the question. _"Where'd it come from?"_ He asks, and I bite down on the inside of my lip.

_"It's... from my death..." _I respond simply, trying not to waste my currently limited breath. Kisuke looks perplexed.

_"Oh!"_ He responds, suddenly understanding. _"Yes, I've forgotten about that. I don't even recall how I went, at this point!"_ He laughs, making light of my uncomfortable response. I breathe a little easier, smiling slightly. "_How was it for you?"_ He asks, then makes that puzzled look again. _"I mean, if you don't mind. I understand it's hard on some people to go over that."_ His change just makes me feel like I need to tell him. I shouldn't be so touchy about it, after the time I've had to get over it.

_"Uhm... A plane crash... I was with... my mother." _I elaborate as best I can. Kisuke looks confused again.

_"Your mother? How old were you?" _Oh, jeez. Now I must look like a kid, and he's been around for hundreds of years.

_"Ah, nineteen. A... month from twenty."_ I respond, but it just seems worse as I say it. Kisuke nods, sitting back in his chair.

_"Alright. You were close, then?"_ Sort of. I nod. _"That's good."_ He smiles kindly. I hadn't even noticed the change from his typically excited state, but that smile makes it evident. I smile a little in return.

_"Well!"_ Kisuke starts up the energy again. I raise my eyebrows at him. _"I came here with some news for you, and there I go getting sidetracked!"_ He laughs at himself, withdrawing a wrapped package from a pocket within his robe. I look at it, puzzled (partially because it's decorated with pink and blue sparkles, and tied with yellow curling ribbon). _"I wrapped this up myself – I think that makes it more exciting."_ He grins like a kid with his first macaroni art project, and places the package on the table beside my bed.

_"What...?"_ I ask, since he still hasn't explained what that's for.

_"Well, you still can't figure it out?"_ He almost looks offended, but giggles, breaking that up. I look at him strangely. _"You should know that I had to fight tooth an nail for this. The other captains also know what you're worth."_ He only succeeds in making me more confused. _"So, I pulled some strings, wiggled some people around, and got you a position in the twelfth seat on Twelfth Company."_ Kisuke grins again, as I'm sure he likes the sort-of pun there, and he's expecting my response. I've completely lost my ability to speak, though. He laughs when I only manage to make a face. _"Well, I was hoping for more response than that!"_

_ "Uhm, yeah."_ I mumble. _"I just... why me...?"_ I ask slowly. He's never explained that, since the vague comments he made about Akahana when he taught my class that day. His face drops to serious again, and I notice the change immediately.

_"You don't...?" _Kisuke sits forward again, clasping his hands between his knees._ "Your Zanpaku-Tô is something... very rarely seen." _He pauses. _"I guess the man who trained you decided not to mention it."_ He sighs, more solemn than I've yet seen him. _"For now... just know that sometimes, people lie to protect you."_ He watches my eyes steadily for a moment, then stands up suddenly.

_"Well, I'll give you a call when you're out of here."_ Kisuke smiles at me again, making the previous moment disappear. _"I'll be holding a meeting for your arrival, to get acquainted with the rest of the Company. Maybe we'll have a cake, too!" _He laughs freely. He has such a strange ability to switch between emotions like that. _"I'll see if I can work that out before you get fixed up here." _I smile at the offer, which causes him to grin.

_"Anywho," _he continues in a sing-song, pulling out a fan and fluttering it before his face, _"I'll have to be off, for some of that boring paperwork... Get well soon, Emiko!" _He waves the fan at me then turns and walks to the door, where he bumps into Unohana.

_"Unohana!"_ Kisuke exclaims. _"Of course, you would be the one to take care of my darling Twelfth Seat. I trust you to do a perfect job of it! Get her fixed up soon – you can see this laying around is taking a toll on her spirit... Well, toodle-oo!" _He waves to both of us over his shoulder as he prances from the room. Unohana pauses, put off by that bizarre exit, then makes her way to me, to check my bandages.

_"You're healing rather quickly."_ She comments after sitting me up all the way to change my bandages. _"You should be out of here in no time."_ She smiles, and wraps me up before laying me back down, handing me a couple of medicine tablets. I take them gratefully, and she exits. Looking across the room, I realize that time has passed much faster that I'd thought, during my conversation with Kisuke. It's already time to sleep, and I couldn't be more happy about that. I decide to leave the package for another day, and shift gently until I bring myself to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

_(Author's note: Speech written in italics is actually spoken or written in another language by the indicated character. It has been translated and noted this way for the reader's benefit.)_

Chapter 12

Twenty people sit around a long meeting table, organized by number. At the head of the table, I can recognize down to third seat, but don't really know anyone below that, until myself, in the twelfth spot. Kisuke rises at the head of the table, and the conversations around me slowly break up.

_"Well, everyone, I'm happy to bring you all here to welcome our new Twelfth Seat from the academy, Emiko Taylor!"_ He gestures broadly at me, with the fan that seems to go everywhere with him. I wave meekly from my seat, not really interested in drawing any more attention to myself. I feel bad for displacing the people below me, who have probably been working much longer than me. Kisuke laughs at my response to his introduction, and continues.

_"Feel free to step up, introduce yourselves, shake her hand, insult her, whatever you see fit!"_ He jokes, but I imagine that some of these people might take it too seriously. _"We do have some friendly party goods, a cake and drinks, so let's enjoy this!"_ He grins at his party-planning skills, and gestures across the room to the gaudily decorated table of "friendly party goods." Slowly, everyone gets up to make their way over there.

I get up in the midst of the movement, only to be interrupted several times by handshakes. Most of them are friendly, and a couple of them seem strained, like they'd prefer not to have to say anything to me, but fear a punishment if they don't. I really wouldn't be upset if they didn't. Eventually, I make my way to the table and pour a soda, uninterested in alcohol, though the rest of them seem to be. I step away to the wall, receiving a few more introductions before a more familiar face steps up.

_"Hello."_ He says, extending a hand. _"I'm Mayuri Kurotsuchi."_ I don't respond, shaking his hand awkwardly. He makes a vaguely surprised expression at me. _"What? Something wrong with your mouth?"_ He asks, clearly peeved by my reaction.

_"Ah, no. Sorry. I was distracted."_ I drop my hand to my side from the introduction. _"It's... nice to meet you."_ I respond anxiously, really hoping not to have to take this any further. He doesn't seem to, either, and casts a strange glance at me before he walks away. I breathe finally, relieved. He's eerie to be around. I heard that he used to be in solitary confinement, until Kisuke had him released with his power as head of the Detention Unit, before his promotion to captain. I'm not entirely sure why he would do that.

Somebody brings me a slice of cake eventually, but I don't really feel like eating. I nibble at it, anyway, to seem polite. A few more introductions wrap themselves up before Kisuke approaches, with his assistant captain Tessai Tsukabishi. The latter extends a large hand to me.

_"Hello. It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Twelfth Company._ _I hope that everyone has gotten along with you so far."_ I smile a little at him as he speaks, his hand engulfing mine in the shake.

_"Yes, thank you, Assistant Captain Tsukabishi."_ I respond, pleased to meet someone as polite to me as he is. But I imagine that it's just because he's supposed to be.

_"Oh, you can call him Tessai. We're not very worried about those formalities here."_ Kisuke interjects, and Tessai glances at him. I can't read his expression through the permanent glare on his glasses. Kisuke just grins and pats his large companion of the shoulder, who stands nearly a head taller. They have a strange dynamic.

_"Anywho,"_ Kisuke continues, _"I thought that it would be a good opportunity to get you introduced to your new home here on the Twelfth Company's property."_ He smiles, but the smile sort of falls off of my face. I didn't know that there would be a move involved. Most of the other companies don't offer special housing for their members. Kisuke gives me an odd look.

_"Uh, yeah, that's alright."_ I respond quickly. Kisuke nods.

_"Great!"_ He smiles again. _"I'll check up on you when these guys start filing out."_ He waves, fan in hand, and strides off with Tessai.

It takes too long for people to start leaving, but that might be due to the alcohol slowing them all down. Some people give me a final goodbye, some people a sneer. I turn my eyes to the ground and wait, occasionally glancing at their passing feet until I've counted that seventeen have gone. Kisuke walks up shortly after that last pair of feet.

_"Tessai's going to clean up, if you'd like to head out."_ He tells me, and Tessai turns his head sharply, expression again unreadable, though I might guess that's it's an unhappy one. I try to ignore that.

_"Yeah, that's fine."_ I respond, and Tessai seems to sigh, resigning himself to cleaning up the scattered crumbs and cups. Kisuke ushers me out into the cooling evening, and I stop just outside the doors, not sure where we're supposed to be going. Kisuke takes a slight lead then.

_"The barracks are all kept in this area, for easy assembly. Of course, they're all separate homes for the seated members, and organized by rank."_ Kisuke explains grandly as we walk. _"I already had your things moved over here for convenience, so we wouldn't have to make that long trip."_ He laughs kindly. I stop. A few feet later, Kisuke glances back at me, realizing I'm not still following. He looks perplexed, and I stare back incredulously.

_"You had my things moved? Without even talking to me?"_

Kisuke laughs the questions off, walking back and throwing an arm around my shoulders to lead me. _"For convenience! Trust me, it's much easier this way. And I made sure that all of your things were packed up safely, to avoid any sort of damage. There's nothing to worry about!"_ He attempts to reassure me, but I really don't appreciate it. I would have gladly moved my own things, rather than having some random people ship all my stuff out without me even knowing.

Shortly after this, we reach the twelfth apartment of the connected lines on either side of the street, marked in the Japanese numbers. I wonder how that became the official system. Kisuke withdraws his arm from me to fish a key out of his pocket, and hands it to me. _"Here you are. I'll give you the honors."_ He smiles, and I give him a look before unlocking the door myself. Just past the inside of the door is a pile of boxes, and Akahana lays on top of them. I pick her up and strap her to my hip as I pass farther into the apartment. Everything is pre-furnished, which is nice. I step down a short hallway, including a linen closet, a laundry room, and the bedroom. This includes a bare bed, side table, and lamp. A small walk-in closet lies on one wall, bathroom door on the wall perpendicular to that. I decide to leave that for later, and step back out to Kisuke unstacking boxes in the living room.

_"I thought I'd help out, since I'm here."_ He explains cheerily. At least he hasn't opened any of them yet.

I cross to him and cut the tape on one box with Akahana's blade. She grumbles in the back of my mind at "the nerve." Clothes in this one. I pick it up and take it to the bedroom. That should be the only personal collection of items, so I don't concern myself when Kisuke begins opening the other boxes.

"_So," _I begin, _"would you also explain why I'm here, if you're planning to stick around for a while?"_ Kisuke looks confused as I return to opening boxes.

_"What do you mean?"_ He asks. I don't think I've ever seen him so sincerely puzzled.

_"I mean, why am I moving straight into the seated ranks on your company? What's so interesting about me that you were 'fighting' the other captains to get me here?"_ I stare at the contents of the box in front of me as I speak, too nervous to look at him while asking such a question. I feel like I shouldn't be asking, but I really need to know.

Kisuke laughs, as if my inquiry is some sort of absurd. _"You honestly don't know anything about it? I had thought that you were just too fatigued to recall, when we spoke in the Fourth Company's department."_ That doesn't answer any questions. I unload some books and drop them on the couch, unsure of where I want them to go.

_"As I explained in your class, that one day," _Kisuke continues, in a more serious tone, _"you possess a very rare form of Zanpaku-Tô. I have only known one other Soul Reaper who could carry the constantly released form, and he is one of the Kenpachi of the Eleventh Company. The reason he is able to carry such a blade is his incredibly high level of reiatsu, which you should know as Spiritual Pressure. You are the same."_ He pauses, again like he isn't sure what to say next. He unloads pieces of my desk during the silence, setting them aside in a pile.

_"The problem, and this is only my hypothesis,"_ Kisuke warns, glancing up at me finally to accent the point, _"is that you have been trained to believe that you are weak. Reiatsu depends greatly upon will. While you have the will to fight and win, you are constantly defeating yourself inside with the notion that you are weak. This, in turn, weakens your potential strength." _He pauses again, trying to sort out the little screws and tools that go with my desk.

_"I believe that, with the proper training, you could become invincible. The other captains have seen this potential as well, but none are sure that they have the time, patience, or method to coach it out of you and teach you to control it. I believe that I have all three of these. I have a curious mind, and I hope to discover the secret to powers like yours. I believe that the thing I hold highest among the other captains, and the thing that they lack, is the courage to face what your powers may turn out to be. If handled incorrectly, you may become extremely destructive. It will be a great undertaking, and it may be difficult for you. If all goes well, though, it will be greatly rewarding."_ He straightens, stretching his back out from leaning over the boxes, and looks over at me. I can hardly speak.

I don't understand what he means about coaching something out of me, or the idea of "if" his ideas work out. I don't like that. I don't like the idea of being a test subject with a possibility of failure. Kisuke seems to understand this, though.

_"Of course, we won't begin any of this work right away."_ He adds. _"It's hard to trust a strange and devilishly handsome man with your life so quickly."_ He's already returned to the jokes, fluttering the mysterious fan in front of his face. _"I plan to do much work with you before we set to work with reiatsu. We may even share a few secrets!"_ He winks, then breaks into a laugh. I duck my head before I look too embarrassed by the notion.

_"Uhm, yes."_ I respond, just to end this uncomfortable conversation. _"That's fine."_ I see him look at me curiously from the corner of my eye, but I just set to organizing the things removed from the boxes. Eventually, he leaves it alone and turns to reconstructing my desk.

After probably more than an hour, we've gotten my apartment into a shape that I can be satisfied with. Kisuke leans against the wall by the door while I survey the rooms once more, assuring that everything is placed correctly. I'll have to go out and pick up some other necessities once my salary starts up.

_"I had a wonderful time, Emiko!"_ Kisuke tells me as I return to the front door. _"Thank you for so graciously inviting me into your home!"_ I didn't, though. He just followed. The help was nice, though. He extends a hand to me, but before I can accept it my position has completely changed.

_"I find that the first step to trust should always be a good hug!"_ He tells me enthusiastically, arms wrapped tightly enough around my back that we're pressed completely chest to chest. My face heats dramatically and I turn it away from the side of his, then raise my arms to awkwardly pat his back in an attempt to end the embrace. After an eternal moment, he releases me and turns immediately toward the door, waving his fan over his shoulder as he exits. _"I'll contact you about our plans!"_ He calls over his shoulder, then disappears down the street. I close and lock the door, heaving a grateful sigh.

"Hmmm... That went well, don't you think?"Akahana comments in my head, causing me to flush once again. I unstrap her from my hip and toss her on the empty couch, trying to ignore the comment and the pounding blood in my veins.

He's so crazy. Absolutely insane. That's the only reason for all this, I'm sure – personal accompaniment to my apartment, helping me set up, hugging me goodbye... You can't be less professional that hugging your subordinates. He has to be insane. I need to drop the whole topic, though, or I'll be driving myself insane.

I walk into my bedroom and change into my sleeping clothes for what I hope will be a long night's rest.

_(Author's Note: As predicted on my profile, my posting speed has slowed down – I have to hold down a job, too! I will try to keep my updates coming at least once weekly. I hope this doesn't deter you, and I hope you all continue to enjoy the story! Drop some suggestions or insults in the review box, if you have the time!)_


	13. Chapter 13

_(Author's note: Speech written in italics is actually spoken or written in another language by the indicated character. It has been translated and noted this way for the reader's benefit._

_Also, my apologies for the time it took to update! I've been very busy, and wasn't sure where I wanted to go with this chapter. I'll try to be back to regular updates in the future!)_

Chapter 13

_"So... I thought we could go shopping today!"_ Kisuke chirps from across the low table, happily sipping at a cup of tea. He invited me over shortly after I woke up, the morning after he spent the night helping me arrange my new apartment. I thought he might at least give me a day's break.

_"Shopping? For what...?"_ I respond slowly, still mindlessly swirling my spoon in my tea cup. I've never been much of a tea drinker, to the surprise of many. Also, I'm too anxious to even try, sitting on the floor of the tea room in Kisuke's home. The only thing that keeps me calm enough to speak is Tessai checking in on us every few minutes.

_"I don't know!"_ Kisuke replies cheerily. I wait for him to explain, but he doesn't. I'm sure, by this point, that he's completely insane.

_"Well, I don't exactly have the money to go shopping for nothing in particular..."_ I tell him, and he removes his hand from his cup long enough to wave dismissively at me.

_"Oh, no! I'll purchase anything you like! That is, after all, what a trustworthy friend would do, yes?"_ He grins at me as if he actually thinks that's reasonable. I think he's taking this trustworthiness thing too far, already.

_"That's... not necessary."_ I tell him, glancing back as the glint off of Tessai's glasses hits the wall beyond the table. This time, the large man speaks.

_"Sir, you shouldn't be so careless with your funds..."_ The Assistant Captain recommends, but Kisuke gives him the same dismissive wave.

_"Nonsense, Tessai! I think I know how to handle my own money."_ Tessai seems to blanch at this statement, then withdraws from the room once more, shaking his head. I wonder if the other members of the company know about that concern.

Kisuke leans backward, glancing out the tall glass door at the back of the room. _"I think we'll have a good two hours to spend on a shopping trip, if we leave now."_ He observes, then places his cup on the table to push himself up from the floor. Stepping around, he offers me a hand up, still not noticing my untouched drink. Reluctantly, I accept the aid. He'd be so much less confident in his trust-building exercises if I refused. He leads the way out through the front of his building, and we start heading down the street.

Strangely, despite his exuberant talkativeness, Kisuke doesn't say a word during our walk. I'm not sure if I should speak up, so I stay quiet, trusting that there's a reason.

"I'm pretty sure that he's not leading the way to town." Akahana speaks up, with a suspicious look in the back of my mind. I shrug at her, shaking my head.

"He knows what he's doing." I tell her lowly, not wanting to be heard from the few feet I trailed behind Kisuke. He peeks back at me with a brow raised, and I smile in return, dismissing his confusion about my mumbling.

"Yeah, and he's _not_ going anywhere you'd go to shop." I shake my head at her, ignoring the comments. He wouldn't be lying to me for his trust exercises... No. He couldn't be that contrary.

It only gets weirder as we pass through what seems like a tunnel into a hill. I can't even defend him at this rate. As the tunnel opens into a wide, underground area, I stop, starting to back up. This is obviously not downtown, and we won't be heading there any time soon.

_"What... what are we doing here?" _I ask slowly, and Kisuke turns to look at me, smile on his face.

_"This."_ He replies from behind me. I hadn't even noticed him move. I spin around, and he holds his Zanpaku-Tô to my neck. I stumble back, spluttering to say something while I try to untie Akahana from my side. Kisuke stays on me the whole way.

_"How is this... trust-building exercises?"_ I ask, finally drawing Akahana to clash against Kisuke's blade. He still pushes me back. He could push me into the ground if he wanted to.

_"Trust I won't kill you."_ He responds, bright grin on his face despite my terror. He twists his wrist, flicking his blade around to swipe at my legs. I jump back, only to realize that the cliffs drops off just behind me. I catch Akahana on the hilt of Kisuke's sword to get my balance back, then thrust her forward to slice at him. He side-steps, flicking his blade at me again. I take another step against the cliff's edge, but Kisuke is too far for me to catch this time. I see his face change as I tumble backward off the cliff, and he darts forward to grab me. His fingers only grip the fabric of my pants, ripping that part of the cloth and redirecting the path of my fall. My back hits a rock jutting from the cliff side, turning me end over end so my face makes first contact with the jagged boulder below.

_"Emiko!"_ I hear his voice beyond the ringing in my ears. A second later, something touches me, moving my body. My face scratches against the rock, but I can barely feel it now. Kisuke curses quietly. I can just make out the color of his blonde hair in front of me, tinged with blood... Or is that the blood on my eyes? They sting, and I shut them tightly, deciding to make out my surroundings by what feeling I have left. The ground moves from beneath me, I assume it's Kisuke picking me up. The wind brushes what's left of my face briefly, and I'm on the ground again. Wind? Were we moving?

_"Okay, hang on."_ Kisuke speaks over me, and something dripping with water touches my face. I groan in pain. It burns against the wounds from my fall. _"It's okay."_ He sounds panicked, almost. Or I could be imagining it. The thing moves off of my face, it may be a piece of cloth. I hear a little splash beside my head this time, and then the cloth is on my face again. _"This will help. Just... don't panic." _I think he might need to tell that to himself. If I had the proper layers of skin on my face, I would have blushed at the thought that he might be so concerned about me.

This goes on for what seems like ages, before Kisuke manages to coax my eyes fully open. As expected, his face is creased by concern. I offer him a small smile in reassurance, though my face still feels too warm. It doesn't help much anyway.

_"Here..."_ He speaks, helping me to sit up. "_This pool has healing properties. You can use it to fix what else was hurt." _Once he has me turned to the pool, Kisuke stands and steps away. _"I'll... give you a moment."_ I try to turn to look back at him, but can't with the pain in my spine. I suppose the next part of the exercise will have to be trusting that he won't watch me, though none of this has worked out so far. I don't seem to have any other choice.

I slowly push the slightly shredded uniform off of my body as I slip into the hot pool, finding a rock ledge inside to sit on. The water rises almost to my neck. I dip my head under briefly, clearing most of the fuzziness from it as I come back up. I only just hear the crunch of weight settling on the ground behind me. I can turn better this time, to find Kisuke turned away from me, legs folded under himself. Hands on his knees, he bows toward the ground.

_"I'm sorry for how this turned out... It was not my intention." _ He murmurs solemnly. I don't know what to say to him. I start to feel bad for making him have to apologize like this. While it technically was his fault, I don't want him to feel like he needs to put himself out of shape for me.

_"It's okay. You didn't kill me, right?" _I respond, trying again to be reassuring. This time I can see the hint of smile on Kisuke's lips. He sits up slowly and looks at me, shaking his head in some sort of amusement.

_"I thought it would go over a little better than that..."_ He chuckles, hand reaching to scratch the back of his head. _"I thought I would try to surprise the true power of your reiatsu out of you. I was distracted, as I thought I had begun to feel it, and didn't pay attention to your position."_ He shakes his head again, adjusting his position to cross his legs on the ground. Glancing away, he notices the crumples of my uniform on the ground. He reaches over and picks up the top, raising an eyebrow at the damage it had taken. He hadn't noticed before?

_"That's hardly wearable."_ He comments, then pauses. He casts a leering glance in my direction, and I feel my face heat up. My hand strikes out quickly from the water to slap his side. He jumps, pressing a hand to his side, and laughs at me.

_"I didn't say anything!" _He says in a chuckling defense, as if his perverted look wasn't enough. He really is something else.

_"You didn't have to."_ I grumble back, only just thinking to cross my arms over my chest. He chuckles again, then dips a hand in the water, cupping some water in his palm. He presses it to my cheek.

_"Missed a spot!"_ He tells me cheerily, then stands before I can react, dusting off his pants. I blush and turn to the water, looking at the hints of reflection in the water instead of at him. A raw spot on my cheek pales back to normal. I don't know what the wounds were exactly, but I assume I crushed and scraped my face on the rock. My skin is still mottled enough to reflect the damage. The rest of me suffered scrapes and bruises as well, and I'm almost certain something serious happened to my back, though it doesn't seem to reflect that pain now. It's strange, how well this pool can heal wounds.

There's a short, muffled burst of air behind me, and I turn to see that Kisuke dropped his Captain's robe there. I glance up at him in mild horror, that he might be suddenly stripping down to join me. He laughs aloud at the look on my face.

_"I thought you could use something else to cover up with." _He explains with a wave of his hand, then steps away, apparently deciding that I was ready to get out. I suppose I've fixed what can immediately be fixed, and reach over for my uniform, pulling it back on as I slip back out from the water. The fabric sticks straight to my skin from the water, doing little to protect me from the air. Once dressed in that, I stand up, lifting Kisuke's cloak as well. I feel like I shouldn't be allowed, by some unnatural force, to wear it, and so I just hold it there. Kisuke turns back to me, and immediately chuckles.

_"Well, it won't eat you."_ He laughs, taking the robe from my hand and draping it over my shoulders. _"There, safe and sound." _He grins as I maneuver my arms into the sleeves. I look at him a little awkwardly. It feels like I'm not just a project or a soldier to him. Part of me should be overjoyed by that, which Akahana confirms in the back of my mind. But I doubt it, that he thinks of it that way, or that such a thing would ever happen. Kisuke Urahara is just a strange, albeit handsome, and eccentric man. Nothing more than that.

_"I guess we'll head back."_ Kisuke says, looping his arm around my shoulders once more, supporting me some as I start walking again. _"I'll see that you have a new uniform by the morning."_ He grins at me, I suppose because he thinks it reflects back on his lie about a shopping trip. I give him a slight smile, then turn my attention back to the path leading up to the tunnel out.

_(Author's Note: As requested, I've posted an action pose for Emiko and Akahana, to give an idea of how she works in Shikai state. Find the link on my profile!)_


End file.
